Any Fool Can See
They were more than a month out from the rock where they'd gone in search of answers. Coming up on a good station to recharge the cells and go over supplies, finally. Johns would plug into the merc database, sift through all the rumors of jobs, and find them something they could use to break the kid in if they decided to keep him. Luna was still raw from what had happened.
He wasn't quite avoiding her, or Johns, so much as giving them time to themselves to mourn. Dahl could be grateful for his sensitivity. He wasn't completely misguided in his intentions after all. She and Johns would mourn but first they needed to mentally process what had happened and a month in cryo wasn't the place to do it.
Luna was still worrying about the girl, Kitten. He kept mumbling that it wasn't right for her to be with Riddick. Dahl shot him a look that shut him up for about five minutes and then the mumbling started again. "Look," she set her datapad down carefully. The more annoyed she was the more careful she had to be. "I don't know how long you were with Santana's crew. But that girl was in no shape to be around you anymore." Luna appeared about to object and Dahl's hand slashed through the air commanding silence. "I know you didn't rape her. But you stood by and watched while others did. And then watched again when they took another woman."
"They were bounties, at least the second was. The first, the girl…" Luna's voice trailed off and she realized that he couldn't be sure. He could only rely on what Santana had said.
"Yeah," She looked at him sternly. "So to my way of thinking you really don't have much ground to stand on about her choices now." She picked up her datapad and began to work again pausing once more when he still seemed to be puzzling things out. "Besides, if she's a Seer, or Precog or whatever, she'd be able to see any play he makes, long before he makes it."
Luna nodded uncertainly and Dahl resumed her work.
The ship needed a decent overhaul and Dahl was no kind of mechanic. Johns was marginally better than she was but that didn't mean much. So they were definitely staying around the main docks of the city for another week. That was fine with her. She had enough money saved that she didn't need to work every minute and now that Johns had some answers he needed the time to process them.
She looked up as her boss took the seat across from her and flicked off the novel she'd been trying to read. "Sometimes I don't get the shit people do," She offered. "I've been trying to read that damn book for a day and I can't get past how stupid people seem to be."
"People like predictability," Johns shrugged at her. "If we were the same as everyone else we wouldn't be mercs."
"Speaking of unpredictable," Dahl set the eBook down. "How're you doing with what he told you?"
The first thing they'd both done after immediate business with the guild had been taken care of was debrief each other on what had occurred when they'd been separated on that planet. Dahl had listened to Johns' side of the tale and ended up chuckling at some things while she'd wanted to gut someone over others. The news that Riddick hadn't killed Johns' son had been surprising but not shocking. The convict had been too circumspect, too coy, in telling the tale of M344/G. If he'd killed Billy Jr., Riddick was the type to say straight out that the man was dead and along with the method of execution. That he hadn't come right out and said as much argued that he hadn't been the one to kill the younger merc.
What she did find interesting was Johns' report of Riddick's treatment of the girl. And the girl's reaction to it. That she couldn't stand for Johns to touch her for a fifteen-minute hog ride but was fine pressed against Riddick's back was extremely odd.
"It's…a tough pill to swallow," Johns replied after a heavy moment of thought. Those bright blue eyes were dark with memories. "He was always so damn stubborn. So sure that he could do things on his own. Maybe if I hadn't…"
"What? Taught him what you knew? Gave him a leg up in the guild? Backed him whenever he asked for help?" The sniper shook her head, "You couldn't live his life for him Will." She used his given name gently, reminding him she was more than his second, she was still his friend. "What bothers you more? That he might have changed so much when you weren't around? Or that it's been ten years and there's no one to blame for his death but him?"
"Both," He took a deep breath. "I guess it's hard to let go. Even when there's nothing left to…" he shrugged. His weathered face was tired but he finally seemed to be relaxing a bit. The tension that had ridden him was finally easing. They may not have been the answers he wanted but he had them.
She looked at Johns thoughtfully. A change of subject was in order. She'd told him about spending that empty time with Luna. The boy had been nervous but responded well to orders. The only irritating thing had been his constant praying. "So what'd you think about the kid?" She picked up a straw wrapper and began to twist and fold it into a shape.
"Not very well trained," Johns was frowning. His bright blue eyes were considering as he thought on the kid. "He can handle a gun, knows how to armor up, can deal with cryo okay. He's just so damn young."
"Yeah," Dahl nodded. "And I don't mind saying my biggest concern is how easily he accepted that Santana had the right to slave out his bounties. There's young and ignorant and then there's stupid and greedy." She frowned as she voiced a particularly ugly thought, "We don't even know if the women were actually bounties or if Santana just told him they were."
"Well we agree he's young, ignorant certainly," her boss nodded. "I don't know that he's stupid or greedy. According to him, he joined Santana's outfit because he wanted to hunt down bad men. The kind who'd burn a church with the priest still inside."
"So when he got taken on he didn't question what Santana wanted or he'd just get dropped off and left," Dahl surmised. "He's... I don't mind religion, or even people who are religious, but he does seem to be a bit...judgmental about a few things. It could just be the strain of a new clan and not knowing what's appropriate and what isn't. I doubt Santana taught him shit. Probationary period maybe?"
"Nine months or so." Johns agreed. "We'll see if we can get him trained up a bit more. And make sure he learns the rules of the guild, not just to do what we say."
"Still leaves us a coupla men short," the sniper set her folded paper down. A miniature cat sat on the table between them. "I can check around, see if anyone decent is looking to join up."
"Yeah, I'll hit the databases again, put the word out that we need a couple of quality guys." The boss merc rose and looked around the room. "Looks like it's gonna get a bit rowdier in here. Not much of a place for reading."
"I'm sending the damn thing back to the library," Dahl picked up her cat and her eBook, easily keying the command to return the loaned data. "If I can't get into it in a day then I'm not gonna." She stuck the device in one of her pants pockets and tucked the cat into another. It could live with her little zoo in her locker.
She wasn't second in command because she was the best fighter, though she could hold her own against Johns or any of her old crew. And it wasn't because she'd known Johns the longest. She was his second because of all the mercs he'd come across she had the best recall of details that could come back to bite them. And she knew how to run a crew from day to day. Long-term plans, Johns was the best, she had no doubt. But if he was the Captain, she was his Sergeant. Give her a halfway decent crew and with two months, she could have them working in tandem and ready to follow orders.
Johns always told her she could run her own crew if she wanted. That was where she disagreed with him. Johns was a born leader, charismatic, tough as nails and smart. She was tough as nails and smart but charisma? No. She was a damn good second in command and the men were loyal to her but only because she was loyal to Johns. She had no illusions about what would happen if she tried to strike out on her own. She'd end up on lone jobs or running a bunch of guys with no spines or no brains. You needed something…other in order to command men. She could do it on behalf of Johns, but that was her limit.
But she was better than her boss at one thing, that she knew. Whenever there was any doubt about a job, Johns could count on her to sniff out the trouble. That recall for details would almost infallibly come to her aid. Details were what she ran on. Details like the wind velocity, temperature, and terrain. Details like preferred armor, weapons and ammunition. And information like words, languages and intonation almost never left her brain once heard or seen.
"Will," she spoke quietly from her seat on a crate near their ship. Johns was underneath it trying to determine if they really needed the repairs that were being 'suggested'. From the amount of cursing he was doing she'd bet the answer was a yes.
"Yeah?" He pushed himself out from under the ship eyes bright and sharp. "Something on your mind Nik?
He rarely used her first name, but then she rarely remembered what it was. It wasn't as if anyone used it besides Johns. And Nicolette Dahl was possibly the girliest name in the 'verse. "Yeah," she rubbed a hand over her face tiredly. "You thought about what you'll do if we come across him, them, again?"
"Still a price on his head," Johns' reaction was knee jerk and Dahl rolled her eyes. Sometimes he was such a man. He was the best man she knew but he was still a man.
"There's that." She continued to paint her toes, Bloody Mary Red, whatever that meant. But she liked the color. "Would you take the girl too? Bring her up on aiding and abetting? Or let her slide?"
"Depends on how much she does to get in the way," Johns looked at her. "You sayin' maybe that's not the best way?"
"I'm..." She shrugged and recalled the way Riddick had behaved towards the girl he'd referred to as Kitten. "Wondering if everything we've been told about Riddick is precisely true."
"What makes you say that?" Her boss and friend sat up on the slide board and leaned his head against the ship. Those bright blue eyes were curious but not overly judgmental.
"He had every chance to kill the girl," Dahl murmured. "She admitted that he was alone with her but he simply left." She frowned as she recalled Riddick's face after he'd woken up chained. "When he woke up...he didn't try to bargain for himself. He didn't even seem surprised or worried that he was manacled. But he looked for her and..." She regarded Johns with a frown. "Did you see his eyes when he got a look at what Santana did to her?"
Johns nodded slowly, obviously thinking back, and Dahl continued. "That wasn't how I would have expected a convict to act. We've been told that he's capable of every type of atrocity. That girl is a Seer, a Precog, and she seemed to think she was safer with him than you and I. Now what does that say to you?"
"Either she isn't a Seer, unlikely when you consider everything that happened," Johns said slowly.
"Or Riddick isn't nearly as evil a spawn of Satan, as we've been led to believe." Dahl finished quietly.
"So what? We come across him again you want to let him go?" Blue eyes were shrewd as they regarded his second. "Or is it that he's the first guy you've come across that doesn't underestimate you simply because you're a woman."
"Do I find him attractive physically? Yes," she rolled her eyes. "I'm not blind or dead." She shook her head, "I don't want to let him go. But I don't want to screw her over to get him. And maybe I'm wondering how accurate his sheet is."
"Well I had been wondering if the girl would be all right," Johns admitted quietly. "She didn't seem all there really. I wasn't sure when we left if she'd be safe with him." He sighed, "But at the same time, she was arguing to go with him. And I couldn't blame her. Not after what happened to her with Santana's crew."
"Yeah me neither," Dahl sighed. The girl had gone from chuckling to terrified in the space of a few words. And it had been Riddick who'd talked her down. "But from everything you said about her behavior while you were retrieving the nodes she trusts him."
"I can't think of any other interpretation," the senior merc offered. "She never seemed afraid of him. Not once. You and I, and Luna and the members of Santana's old crew, hell yes. And Santana terrified her, not that I blame her one bit for that. But Riddick put hands on her, more than once, to help her, hell he covered her body with his when we were bombarding that hill with Willie P. She didn't shy away like she did with me, or even you."
"If someone had done to me what had been done to her...I don't know that I'd trust any merc either," the sniper said slowly. "I just can't imagine being so...undone by something that I'd trust Riddick over you."
"Thanks, I think," Johns chuckled. "I doubt we'll run into either of them again. And I'm not going to go looking for Riddick, that's for sure. I like my head attached to my neck."
"With you there," Dahl agreed with a grin as she finished her toes. "Well I'd better get on the cortex, scout out a few fellas to round us out."
It was something she thought about, off and on, over the course of the next year and she did as much research on the cortex as she was capable of, slowly developing a disturbing theory. And kept it to herself because it was just a little too…out there to be voiced just yet.
Jobs took them all over the 'Verse. She and Johns had managed to pick up a tracker and another hand-to-hand specialist, Jacobs and Chang respectively. Between the four of them, they were training Luna to be more than a shaking hand on a gun. The boy was showing some aptitude for tracking and shaping up to be a half way decent spotter for her.
She and Johns still felt the loss of Larkspur and Moss but a year of working with the new guys had worn the edges off and they felt like a team finally. Of course, Johns was as blind about some things as he ever was.
Dahl was practically snarling to herself over Will's male stupidity as she entered the store to resupply on ammunition and on edge with frustration of several kinds. So, when that distinctive voice growled low in her ear, asking, "You been keepin' it warm for me Dahl?" She jerked and nearly butted the crown of her head into his nose. The rush of heat his voice inspired clashed with the ice dagger that sliced through her belly at the thought of what he might be after. "Easy." He offered the assurance after a moment, reading the tension that rode her correctly. "Ain't lookin' for the sweet spot Dahl. Just askin' how you been."
She relaxed slightly, turning to look up at him and let herself enjoy the sheer male presence of Riddick. Whatever else he was, he was gorgeous, muscles and skin and a voice that knocked the angel off one shoulder and cozied right up to the devil on the other. That devil just seemed to take control of her mouth as she answered him. "Oh I've been good. But I could be better." She tilted her head slightly, and gave him her sweetest tease of a smile. "So I already asked you once, sweet like. Do I gotta ask again?"
"Won't even hafta kill anybody first," Riddick grinned. "How patient are you feelin'?" He seemed to loom over her, heat rising off his skin and igniting the coil of need inside her.
"Not very," She shook her head and put the box of ammo down, leaving the shop, painfully aware of the very dangerous convict at her back.
The next quarter of an hour was a blur, as they didn't even make it to a boarding house or his ship, not that either of them would have gone with the other. She'd been surprised at how careful he'd been with her at first, until he'd had her measure at least. Then he'd finally acceded to her demands for the rough hard ride she needed. She lost count of how many times he'd brought her; her knuckles had her own tooth marks she'd bitten so hard to keep from screaming with the ecstasy of it.
He'd been somewhat polite after even, holding the clothes he'd ruthlessly stripped off her out for her to take and making sure no one came down the alley. She heard him, barely, begin to leave as she pulled her shirt over her head and called after him as soon as she got a clear view again. "Hey," She watched him stop at the mouth of the alley, but not turn, "You know this can't change anything?"
Then Riddick did turn and look at her, "If I thought it did, I'd be stupid. We both got what we wanted. An' my creed ain't greed. So I'm out. You see me again, you'd best ask me sweet like and real quick, else I'll think you're comin' for another reason." A chill crawled up her spine and she nodded, a jerky movement she knew he'd read as fear and not be wrong.
He disappeared from view and she took a moment to lean back against the wall and breathe.
She managed to put herself back together, weapons harness clipped around her ribs and clothing tucked into place sans ripped panties, return to the store and purchase the ammunition she'd been wanting. Johns and Luna were still at the general store, examining MREs when she caught up with them. "Thought you'd be further along than this," She commented, slinging her bag over her shoulder and looking around the shop.
"Ran into someone we knew," Johns gave her a half smile as he tossed the foil-covered meals into the basket. "Distracted us a bit."
"I still don't see why you're not upset 'bout bein' lied to," Luna was addressing Johns and evidently carrying on an ongoing discussion.
"Because she didn't lie to me," Johns shrugged. "Didn't really lie to you either. Way you all told the tale, it was assumed the girl was a Seer and she let you."
"Seer?" Dahl looked at Johns sharply. "You mean—"
"Yep," He nodded, unconcerned. "The Kitten herself. Looks good too."
"She looks like a killer." Luna added sulkily. "Still not sure I believe her."
"About?" Dahl had a sneaking feeling that she knew.
"Not knowin' where Riddick is," The boy told her, his unlined face twisted with irritation. "An' she ain't a Seer. She's more a Reader."
"That…would explain a lot." Dahl shook her head and began to giggle in spite of herself. The more she remembered about the planet and what had gone on there the more she laughed until her boss and crewmember were staring at her incredulously.
"Something funny Dahl?" Johns' voice was mild and amused.
"Pretty sure she was lying through her teeth about not knowing where Riddick is," Dahl gasped out. "Since I saw him not fifteen minutes ago."
Johns was immediately alert, sharp eyed and looking around, an instant scan of their perimeter for threats. "Did he—"
"See me back? Hurt me? Do what he promised he would?" Dahl interrupted with a sigh. "Yes to the first, no to the second, and yes to the third. With my full permission."
"You didn't—A convict?" Luna was staring at her as if she'd fallen from grace, which in his eyes maybe she had.
"I damn well did," Dahl snapped back at him. "I did my own research after that whole mess. And I can't find one damn thing about his arrest record or trial or strangely enough, any sort of crime before he busted out of a Slam." She stared him up and down, "I'd get off that high horse if I were you. You watched not one, but two women get slaved out and did nothing about it. One call to the Guild would have answered any questions about the legality of it but you didn't bother."
"Dahl," Johns didn't seem terribly worried. "Where is he now?"
"I have no idea, but I would bet my share of the next contract that he's no where on planet anymore," She shrugged. "Especially if my theory is right." Bright blue eyes were endlessly patient as he waited for her to elaborate. "If you saw Kitten here, and I saw Riddick, coincidence is too high for them to not still be working together. Or at least still in contact."
"She goes by the name Lil now; we could do a run on the ships at the docks…" Luna was saying excitedly.
"She said she was going by Lil," Johns corrected him. "Which can be a nickname, last name, first name or a plain old lie. And if she's traveling with or meeting Riddick, there's no way a ship's manifest will give us anything that will lead to either of them."
"But—"
Dahl cut the kid off. "Think about it kid," She gestured around them. "This place is a way station. Folks and ships are in and out of here constantly. And if she's a Reader? There's no way she doesn't see us comin'."
"You in particular," Johns told him flatly. "Mercs period but you especially. Girl seemed put out at being considered a thing. And rightfully so. Contracts, bounties, they're still people. They might be monstrous but that means we're careful. Not monsters ourselves."
Dahl nodded approvingly, "He's right. You stop thinking of the people we hunt as people you're on the road to being as bad as Santana was." She looked at the basket full of MREs and rolled her eyes. "At least throw some freeze-dried nuts or fruit in there. You want us all to get scurvy?" She pointed at the end of the aisle. "There's freeze-dried ice cream too. I'm going to see about rooms and whether or not our man made a stop at any of the bathhouses around here."
"Girl said to try the mines, coal dust hides the face or something like that," Johns told her.
"Good thought." She nodded and patted her gun. "I'll check the outgoing trains."
"Be careful," Johns called after her, a grin in his voice. "Even if you have appalling taste in men, don't wanna lose you Dahl."
She turned and looked at him with a half smile, "My taste isn't that bad boss. Just the guy I want doesn't think I'm a girl."
She let him smoke on that as she put some distance between the two of them, half regretting saying anything.
She did her work, got a promising lead on a train bound for the mining camps and then got them rooms before seeing about having a bath herself. The ache of being thoroughly and completely fucked still gave her a twinge as she settled into the hot water and slowly washed away the smells of sweat, recycled air and sex.
Johns had reacted better than she thought he would to her having screwed Riddick. Maybe if he hadn't gotten the truth out of the convict he wouldn't have been so blasé but he'd done the same research she had. Riddick just appeared on the merc sheets after breaking out of Deep Storage and he'd been on them ever since.
It was an oddity Riddick had in common with the girl he'd christened Kitten. There was nothing on her in any guild database or the merc dark web. If she'd ever been a legal bounty her identity had been scrubbed from the cortex completely. That was a near impossibility but it could be done with a husker of sufficient talent.
A knock on the door startled her out of the half doze she'd let herself slip into and she straightened up in sudden readiness for trouble. "Five minutes," The attendant's voice called and Dahl cursed to herself softly, grateful she'd at least gotten her hair washed and before she'd fallen asleep.
The rest of the crew and Johns had also taken advantage of the bathhouses, though it looked like Luna would need to run his clothes to a launderer before they went back into cryo. He still struggled with some of the niceties that made life aboard a ship bearable in close quarters. She guessed Santana's crew hadn't been overly concerned about hygiene. They'd all been grimy enough back on that rock.
"Got something else?" She asked as she slotted ammunition in her belt and sniper case, her rifle freshly cleaned beside her. Cross-legged on the bed was the easiest position to do so and Johns had taken over the desk in her room. Jacobs and Chang lounged on the floor, playing with the set of dominos Johns had been carrying around as long as she'd known him. Luna was fidgeting as he looked out the window impatience in every line of his body. Johns had leaned forward slightly towards the cortex and for her that was a dead giveaway.
"Hmm…maybe." Johns nodded, "Someone with the same initials as our guy. Got off the train at the westernmost mine."
"Worth a look-see?" She continued to fill her case.
"It was said the man liked to hide in plain sight," Jacobs commented from his place on the floor. Chang just grunted his agreement as he studied the dominos.
"I think it's worth a trip out there," Johns nodded. "We'd still be in the black as far as expenses go. If it's not him, I'd say regroup, take another job and keep this one on the back burner."
That was the other reason Dahl liked being Sergeant to Johns' Captain. He kept that sort of thing in mind. She'd get fixated and refuse to give up once she got her teeth into a chase.
"I still don't get it," Luna turned and glared at her accusingly. "What's wrong with you? How could you?"
"Kid you had better throttle back the attitude," Dahl sent a mild stare in his direction. "I am finally relaxed enough to deal with having four men in my room without wanting to throw things with overcrowding. I've had a long hot bath, worked on my rifle and I'm organizing my gear. Do not damage my calm."
Luna seemed to puff up with self-righteousness, "I just can't believe you'd go and… and…"
"What? Fuck someone who made me the offer a year ago? Who, by my calculation could have killed me, you, Johns and every other motherfucker in that station without breaking a sweat and didn't?" Dahl rolled her eyes.
"He killed most of my old crew," Luna shot back at her.
"A crew who wanted to put his head in a box and were slaving out a girl who couldn't have been sixteen when you found her," Dahl sneered back. "Something you didn't seem to see anything wrong with." She was peripherally aware of Jacobs and Chang watching them but since neither of them made a move or jumped into the conversation she was safe enough ignoring them, for now.
"And who Dahl sleeps with in her off time is no one's business but hers." Johns added firmly. "If you have a problem with Dahl you have a problem with me Luna. She runs this crew when I'm not around. She keeps things going from day to day and she's got a better memory for details than anyone I've ever met. She kicked Santana's ass twice and she'll kick yours without breaking a sweat."
"How can you just let her whore around with Riddick and not do anything," Luna finally burst out with the name and the two newer crewmembers stiffened slightly.
Dahl turned her head and speared them with her gaze, "Something to say?" Her tone dared them to comment.
Chang's lighting white smile flashed over his face, "Saw the man take out five guys once time. Only the people aiming at him. Didn't hurt another person in the bar." He shook his head, "Riddick is way above my pay grade and if you want to go after him, be my guest but leave me here."
Luna gaped at him and Jacobs chuckled, his raspy voice amused, "Fuck woman, you've got bigger balls'n any of us if you took on Riddick and lived to walk away."
"No balls or he wouldn't have had me," Dahl smirked back at him. "But he was clear enough, he sees me again," She looked at Johns. "He said I better 'ask him sweet like' and right quick or he'd assume I was there for another reason. Fair enough I thought. And more warning than I figured I'd get."
"He's fair that way," Johns nodded.
"That's it? That's all you've got to say?" Luna was staring at all of them as if they'd lost their collective minds.
"Like I said, who Dahl takes to bed is her business. We aren't hunting Riddick." Johns gave him a mildly annoyed look. "Quite frankly since the man is like a fucking ghost unless he wants to be found I'd just as soon pass on that particular level of frustration. Only reason I was looking for him in the first place was answers. I got them. Riddick could have killed me, left me for dead more than once on that rock and he didn't. He made a deal. Likes to be a man of his word. Remember? So am I."
"You have got to tell me this story," Jacobs was watching the two of them like a kid in a candy store. "You got close enough to talk to the man?"
"Shot him full of horse tranks." Dahl grinned back.
"You—you're—" Luna was nearly sputtering.
"Getting fucking sick of talking about this," Dahl snapped. "Why don't you do something useful, take your gear down to the laundry and wash it."
"I don't have to—"
The kid's objection was cut off ruthlessly as Johns spoke, "She's right. We wind up tracking someone and they're downwind they'll smell you coming half a click away. There's a reason we try to keep everything clean."
"That's all you've got to say?" Luna stared at him, his expression incredulous.
"I'd hurry. We're back to work in the morning." Johns added mildly. "And if you don't like taking orders from Dahl maybe you're on the wrong crew. I don't mind prayer, or carrying a bible. I have one myself. But I don't tell anyone how to conduct their personal lives. And you don't have a whole lot of room to look down on anyone else for their choices."
Luna stormed out, slamming the door behind him and Dahl sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "Boss, I know we're giving him a chance…"
"But he's at the end of his probationary period and he's still got a problem taking orders from you," Johns concluded.
"Not that it's my call, but this is a good place if you're going to leave him. Plenty of ships in and out, work to be found and not much of a seamy side if you're worried about him getting caught up by slavers." Chang offered as he flipped another domino over.
"Couple of churches over on the other side of town, away from the bars and the whore houses." Jacobs added. "But since he's gone to do laundry…" He slanted a grin at Chang and looked at Johns and Dahl eagerly. "Tell us a bedtime story Boss?"
Dahl cracked a grin, their acceptance going a long way to restore her good humor. "I dunno, Boss have they been good?"
Johns laughed as he closed up his cortex and put it away, "They've been pretty patient with us." He turned and looked at the two men on the floor and started with a smile, "Once upon a time…"
They'd found their man, with Luna's begrudging help, and with a prisoner in cryo and Luna in tow, set back down at the docks. Johns nodded at Jacobs who had discreetly gathered Luna's things and put them in one of the spare duffle bags. Dahl took her place beside Johns and slightly behind him, noting how the boy's eyes tightened with anger at the sight of her.
"Luna, we took you on as a probationary crew member almost a year ago and while you've learnt some, you haven't quite got the mindset I want in a member of my clan." Johns took the duffle and a small sack of coin and handed them to the boy. He rarely used the merc language of clan and code except in formal situations and it wasn't a good sign for Luna that he was doing so now.
"You're cuttin' me loose, because I don't agree with her whoring around?" Luna obviously hadn't seen this coming, though anyone with sense would have when Johns himself had told him to curb his behavior.
"No." Johns shook his head. "No, I'm cutting you loose because you don't respect her choices. Which means you don't respect her. I might be able to overlook that because it could change in time. But you still don't seem to see that slaving out a bounty like Santana did was wrong. You don't see that maybe Riddick was right. Shocking as that might be, it's still something that should be considered, even if only for a moment. You see our contracts, our bounties, as things." He eyed the boy, "I was of two minds about letting you go. Right up until I found a couple of fresh bruises on our prisoner's ribs. The kind that come from the heel of a boot. We don't beat people in chains here. So you're off the ship."
"Your things and your share of the bounty are there," Dahl told him flatly. "We don't leave people with less than they started with. But your badge, your uniform, that's forfeit."
"If you want to leave without any bruises of your own check your mouth," Chang came up on Johns other side as Luna's lips parted in derision to speak. "Dahl's a lot more tolerant than I am about your mouth and disrespect towards her. She's fair and shares out the work equally and doesn't squawk about doing it herself. She's a good second."
Johns gave the man a half smile of approval and Jacobs folded his arms, "Way I heard it, that little Kitten should have slit your throat." He tapped a small book he carried in his cargo pocket. "All that is required for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing. And that's just what you did."
"Good bye Luna," Johns dismissed the boy and gestured for the rest of the crew to enter the ship, Dahl standing at the top of the ramp and waiting for him, unable to relax until the door slammed closed and he was safely inside.
"Ask you a question Nik?" Johns was idly flipping through some sheets, looking for their next job after the one they were on. Persephone was a planet teaming with things to do so Jacobs and Chang had gone out to have a bit of fun while they waited for nightfall and the potential nabbing of their bounty.
"Hmm?" She'd given up on another truly awful book disguised as a 'new classic' and was painting her toes a bright vibrant rose. Poisonous Poppy. Where did they come up with these stupid names?
"Why did you sleep with Riddick?" Johns asked quietly. "I'm not saying you shouldn't have. That's your choice. But you could have your pick of men. Why him?"
Dahl half smiled, "Well thanks for that. But I can't have my pick." She shrugged, "He was… available, first of all. Up front about it. I mean, I didn't have any stupid notions in my head of getting on his good side and taking him by surprise. Or even trying to get him on the side of the angels, not that anyone could. And he wasn't looking to cut my throat after." She capped the bottle of polish and considered for a moment. "The way he treated Kitten, like she was a person, I knew he'd treat me the same way."
"Makes sense." Johns nodded his understanding. "You're crazy though, you can have your pick of anyone, men…or women for that matter." He chuckled as she goggled at him, "You can't be that unaware Nik, you're fucking gorgeous. Any fool can see that. Hell, if you hadn't told me when you signed on that you don't fuck crew I'd have asked you for a date years ago."
"Any fool huh," She rolled her eyes. "Jī dū Will, I told everyone that. I was the youngest you were hiring; I was green as grass despite being fresh out of the army. If I hadn't laid down the law I'd have had every man in the clan trying for me, like I was some sort of prize or bounty to catch. I didn't even think you noticed I was a girl besides the obvious tits and ass."
He stopped what he'd been intending to say and those dark blue eyes sharpened as they looked at her. "Back after…you and Riddick… you said the guy you want doesn't think you're a girl."
"That's what I said." Dahl agreed, concentrating on the clear coat of polish to go over her color and avoiding that all too intelligent gaze. "I wasn't wrong either."
"I know you're a girl." Johns told her flatly.
"Sure you do boss," She tried to laugh it off. "I'm painting my toes right in front of you."
"And I can see right through your shirt." His voice had thickened, heat flaring, "He was right. Although this polish is a bit darker than your nipples."
She'd barely gotten the bottle capped and her eyes on his before he was on her, jerking her across the table and into his lap, mouth fusing to hers in a kiss that scorched down to the soles of her feet. Hard hips and a harder cock rubbed against her, one hand grasping her breast over her shirt and thumbing her nipple.
She couldn't help reacting, grinding against him and moaning into his mouth as he finally gave her what she'd needed for years, what no one, nothing, not even Riddick could substitute for. She was instantly wet, aching for him and fumbling with his damn belt to get at him. His lips tore away from hers and she nearly whimpered as she tried to follow his mouth as he pulled back. "Tell me I'm not about to screw up the best friendship I have." He demanded, "Promise me Nik. I'm not going to lose you."
"You can't lose me you idiot." She laughed down at him breathlessly, still trying to get into his pants. "I'd follow you anywhere. Any fool can see... God. I've only been in love with you since the first time you trusted me at your back."
"I really am an idiot," He agreed and pulled at the thin fabric of her undershirt, dragging it over her head and fastening his mouth to her breast. Long, hot, slow pulls of his mouth sent her hips rolling against his as she finally got his pants open and reached in for his cock.
"Yeah you are," She moaned and began to work on his shirt; fingers trembling while she worked his cock with her other hand. "Because you're in love with me too." She arched up to his mouth with a strangled cry as his hand gripped her ass and pulled her closer.
They would have been fine but the chair was cheap and one of the legs cracked. Hitting the tile floor hard wasn't the easiest on her knees or his back. Dahl couldn't help it; she let her forehead rest on his chest and nearly howled with laughter.
Never let it be said William Johns didn't have a sense of humor. He was chuckling right along with her. "You want to try this in a bed? I'm willing to risk further injury if you are."
She was still giggling as she kissed him, "Clothes off first Will. And lock the damn door."
She felt like she'd gone blind. "Am I blind?" She mumbled the words and tried to move. Maybe she'd broken her spine? Had a head injury?
Will moved beside her and fabric rustled, light coming through the window in dusty early evening slats. "Not blind, just under a quilt." He ran a hand down her naked side, lingering on her ass and pulled her closer, nuzzling her neck and shoulder. Whiskers tickled her skin and she giggled, stretching against him and rubbing her chest against his. "For the record, I always knew you were a girl Nik."
"Name gave it away, or was it my tits?" She grinned at him shamelessly.
"These legs." He smacked her upper thigh and smirked evilly down at her when she jumped and shivered against him. He was certainly learning all of her kinks quickly. "Although the girly name was a dead giveaway."
"Worst name in the world for a merc," She rolled her eyes.
"Best name in the world for my woman though," He proclaimed showing off his rare sentimental side and kissing her gently. "You are mine, right Nik?"
"Yeah," She grinned up at him. "I'm yours. Always have been really. And you're mine."
His mouth came down over hers, hot and gentle and she melted into it, loving, needing gentle from him when she'd never cared about it from anyone else.
The knock at the door was as unwelcome and as jarring as a cold bucket of water. On top of her Will made a disgruntled noise and turned towards the door reluctantly. "What?"
"Said to come back at five boss, it's ten past seventeen hundred." Jacob's voice called through the door.
"Shit," Dahl sighed and nodded. "We got to go. We don't this guy'll hop a transport to another planet and we're doing this all over somewhere else."
"Right, we're on our way," Johns called towards the door. "Meet you downstairs in ten." The shuffling noise from the hallway indicated the man's retreat and Johns looked at her. "Up to you. Keep this to ourselves or let them know?"
"Let 'em know," Dahl thought for an instant. "If its going to be a problem I'd rather know right away. And you don't do hiding shit very well."
His rueful laugh of agreement got her grinning as they reluctantly left the bed. "Except apparently being hopelessly in love with you," He began to pull on his pants.
"Yeah, when you don't realize something yourself you're very good at hiding it," Dahl began to get dressed and frowned down at her toes. "I'll even forgive you for wrecking my manicure. If we go back to bed after we get this guy."
"That's a deal." Johns tossed her weapons harness at her and she snatched it out of the air, expertly putting it on and helping him into his vest afterwards. "Five minutes."
She'd never be able to do that backwards count in her head without thinking about it. It was simultaneously irritating and funny. "Boots." His came flying towards him and he grabbed them out of the air while she retrieved her own.
"Ready," Johns holstered his weapon and Dahl slung her rifle over her back and the case with it. "Perch you found this morning still good?"
"Should be." She wondered if anyone else would have found it weird their seamless transformation from lovers to partners and shrugged the thought away. No one else but them mattered.
"Then let's go to work." He shot her that grin she'd always found so damn charming and they headed out.
Jacobs had taken one look at Johns hand lingering at the base of her spine and cursed, turning to Chang and handing him a couple of plat. "I'm never betting against you again."
Chang had just grinned and shrugged at them, "You two were just like an old married couple."
So they'd been fine with the changed relationship. Jobs had come pretty steady, and they were working a bounty over on Whitehall when they ran into Riddick again.
"Son of a bitch," Johns' voice sounded in her ear. "Dahl, take a look about eight o'clock from your sight line. You see who I see?"
She obligingly took her eye off the target area for a moment and whistled low, "Never thought I'd see him again."
"Should I be worried?" His voice was teasing. "Are you gonna stop askin' me sweet like?"
"Only thing you gotta worry about is him getting the wrong idea about why we're here," Dahl replied and ignored Chang's sounds of fake vomiting at their flirting.
"Yeah, that could be a problem." Johns admitted.
"Maybe not so much as you'd think," Dahl had seen something else, someone else. "Check out who's standing behind him."
"If someone's behind him, how would I see who it is?" Johns clearly wasn't looking.
"Because when you think of her she pops out and waves," Dahl rolled her eyes as Kitten did just that. "I don't think she'd do that if either of them thought we were a danger to them."
"Well that's just discouraging," Johns sighed. "Let's wrap this up and go greet the neighbors. I don't think our guy is gonna show today."
"No sign of him from up high either," Dahl agreed. "Second market day is tomorrow, maybe then."
By the time she got down from her perch the deadly duo had moved to a more discreet meeting place. The pub wasn't exactly her kind of place but she imagined the clientele were excellent at ignoring anything that wasn't their own business.
"Riddick," She greeted the very large male standing by the corner booth. Silver eyes gleamed in the shadows and he nodded. "You remember Johns." She jerked her head, "This is Jacobs and Chang."
"Tracker and hand-to-hand," Kitten's voice spoke from the shadows of the booth. "Discarded the judgmental boy as unwilling to be trained."
"We did," Johns nodded. "Just a bit after we saw you again." His hands lingered on Dahl's hip as she slid into the booth across from Kitten. Chang leaned against the edge of the booth while Jacobs went to the bar to bring back the beer.
"Saw you take out five men in a bar once on Sigma III," Chang commented. "You only took down the men aiming at you and you didn't hurt anyone else in that bar. It was impressive."
"You think that's impressive?" Riddick's dark growl of a voice was very amused. "You oughta see my kitten fight."
"A demonstration can be arranged," Kitten offered with a flash of white teeth. Dahl studied her thoughtfully. She'd filled out, and looked like a woman of twenty or so rather than a waif of fifteen. Her eyes flickered over to Dahl and she nodded, "He takes good care of me. He can't cook but he makes sure we have food so I can. And he hasn't ever hurt me."
"Not true," There was a raw edge to Riddick's voice that indicated a depth of pain no one would believe the convict could possess.
"Not on purpose," Her hand tugged on his and Dahl watched as Riddick let himself be pulled down to sit beside the diminutive woman. Huge as Riddick was he made her look tiny, his dark skin contrasting with her pale flesh; they were as opposite a couple as she and Johns were alike. "Couldn't know how it would hurt. Tried to make it right. No experience with such things."
"You look better," Johns nodded. "But I guess I can't blame you for being a bit tense when we met last."
"Would have hunted him, hunted us both," Kitten shrugged. "Until you figured out just how...twisted things could get."
"We do a bit more research on our bounties now," Johns shrugged. "That's mostly Dahl. She's better at it than me."
"Helpful to be sure someone we're tracking actually has an arrest record," Dahl lifted one shoulder carelessly. "You'll be interested to know that you don't."
"I know I don't," Riddick chuckled. "My mistake was trying to clean up something that couldn't be cleaned. When the system's corrupt and rotten all the way through it's best to start over somewhere else."
"Uh, Boss," Chang tapped Johns on the shoulder as Jacobs came over to the booth with a double handful of beer mugs. "Don't look now but our bounty just walked right in the door."
Six faces turned towards the door and there was a muttered curse in disturbingly elegant tones, "Gǒu niáng yǎng de."
"Friend of yours Kitten?" Dahl asked easily as she took in the mountain of a man with a goatee and stripy shirt.
"Ex-Crew," Riddick supplied. "The ones Santana pretty much kidnapped her from."
"What's he wanted for?" Kitten sounded curious more than anything.
"There's a warrant for him on Higgins Moon. The magistrate called in some favors and got it pushed so it went out on all the channels." Dahl answered her, "Funny he doesn't look like the type to foster mutiny, sedition and revolution."
"He's not," Riddick's voice was dry. "Not to say he's strictly law abiding."
"But Higgins Moon is a world of indentured servitude and Jayne Cobb is the local's hero. Dropped some money he stole on the Mudders." Kitten sighed, "It is not a legal warrant. Higgins stole the moon in a card game and set himself up as a magistrate."
"Bounty did have some squirrely type wording to it," Dahl conceded. She felt Johns sigh beside her and grinned at him. "Admit it; you really didn't want to have to haul him around anyway. Plus avoiding his crew was the biggest pain in the ass. He's never alone."
"He's not alone now," Jacobs commented from behind his beer. Sure enough the Browncoat wearing Captain and First Mate were entering behind him. "Boss, if you don't mind...can we just sit this one out?"
"Yeah..." Chang darted a wary look at Riddick and Kitten before noting the rest of the crew entering behind the other three. "I wouldn't take these odds in a bet."
"Wise man," Kitten chuckled. She tilted her head as if listening and then leaned forward.
Dahl instinctively matched her and was given a gamine grin, "Two booths behind us, a man with gold caps to his teeth. Wanted for setting off an explosion on Verbena, killed many people, blew up a new factory. Thinks to get a job here and lay low for a time. Wears a grimy red bandana around his neck, a brown coat and carries knives in his boots and belt. Two guns, one at his waist, the other in a shoulder holster."
Johns stretched and looked around; spotting the fellow behind him and tilted his head, "Split the bounty with you then?"
"Even half will be worth more than Higgins bounty, and a lot less trouble." Dahl concurred. "Jacobs, Chang? How's it sound to you?"
"All in favor of not getting our asses thoroughly kicked say aye," Chang raised his hand solemnly and Jacob did the same. "Aye."
"Aye," Dahl chorused with Johns.
"The Ayes have it, the vote carries, four to zero," Johns grinned into his beer. "Dahl? Feel like playing the honey pot?"
"I'm no good at it." Dahl reminded him with a half grin. "But I can do drunk and falling into his lap."
"Yeah you're real good at that." Jacobs chuckled obviously remembering the last time she'd used that trick. "Waste of good beer though."
"Luckily this isn't good beer." Dahl spilled some of her mug on herself and grimaced but put on her tipsy face and began to loudly clamber out of the booth.
She had Kitten giggling at her shenanigans and Riddick was hiding his smirk behind one big hand by the time she'd extracted herself and draw enough attention that her stumbling around with her beer in one hand and practically falling into their target's lap wasn't exactly a surprise to anyone.
The rather smelly man wasn't exactly displeased with his lap of squirming curvy female but he couldn't exactly follow her conversation. Johns, playing the part of the patient husband, came over and began to retrieve his 'drunk wife'. Dahl managed to 'dislodge' his guns from their holsters and fell to the ground as she bent to retrieve them.
Standing up and holding his own guns on him, completely sober, was a satisfying feeling. Johns had a smirk on his face as he cuffed the man. Jacobs came over with Chang to take custody while Dahl slid back to their booth and took a sip of the bad beer. "Well that was fun."
Kitten giggled at her and Dahl grinned, the minor details of money and the bounty were taken care of while the men hustled the bounty out of the bar. Riddick shook his head, "Guess when I ain't involved things go smoother for you?"
"Just slightly," Johns commented as he slid back into the booth. "But we do tend to try and take people alive."
"Yeah, I don't get taken," Riddick smirked and Dahl chuckled.
"We found that out," Johns retorted wryly.
Kitten giggled and Riddick's arm went around her shoulders, "Of course, it helps to have someone on the inside, who doesn't have much reason to like mercs either." He informed them.
"You were in on it?" Dahl stared at River, "You knew each other?"
Riddick's grin was wicked, "Nah." He pulled the slender woman closer. "Never could've seen her comin'."
Kitten smiled at them, "It is not a tale for the faint of heart." Her mouth tilted wickedly, "But you will understand why the girl was not afraid of the convict."
Dahl looked at the two of them and nodded, "Oh yeah, I've got to hear this."
Riddick chuckled, "Well it starts with the Necromongers. And a girl who saw mercs coming for her so she ran, rather than let them kill her crew."
The story took some time to tell. Dahl was aware of Kitten's crew gathering behind the booth to listen and guessed that they'd heard most of it but not all.
"Now I kind of regret letting Luna just walk off," Johns remarked grimly when the two of them had finished their tale.
"Can't be anything other than what you are," Kitten shook her head. "He will learn or he won't. You tried to give him a better start."
"It's more than you got," Dahl was feeling similarly irked. Knowing in abstract what had happened to her had been bad enough. Hearing it from her own lips, and Luna's complicity in what had been more than a year of a torturous existence... She felt like putting her skills to a different sort of use. "Nǐ tā mā de tiān xià suǒ yǒu de rén dōu gāi sǐ."
"The Creed is Greed," Kitten shrugged. "Sooner or later, we'll cross paths again. And he won't find me so easy to take."
"We'll see him coming," Riddick nodded. He gestured to the crew gathered around them. "'Bout time for us to go though. Keep that spine strong Johns. Looks good on you so far."
"You do the same." Johns nodded, standing and helping Dahl out of the booth. "You ever make it? Home?"
Riddick's smile chilled but he nodded once. Kitten snugged herself against his side in silent comfort. "Home is where she is," The convict said finally. "Where I'm standing doesn't matter."
Dahl felt warmth flush through her when Johns nodded, his hand at the small of her back, "Know just what you mean."
Dahl looked up as Johns entered the room they were sharing and smiled. "All set?"
"We are all good to go," Johns picked up the bottle of nail polish. "What's this one called?"
She grinned at him, "Violent Violet."
"Who comes up with these names?" He kissed the arch of her foot affectionately.
"God only knows." She shook her head and nodded at the cortex on the table. "Wave came in for you while you were out. Eyes only."
She watched as he cued up the cortex and read over the text wave. "Guild sent word as his former clan that Luna's take up with non guild mercs. Going after Riddick."
"Idiots, all of them." Dahl rolled her eyes. "He was impossible to take before. Hell, damn near impossible to kill. And that was when he was alone."
"With Kitten on his side..." Johns whistled. "And he only seems to improve with age."
"She'll see them coming a mile away."
They got notice that Luna and his crew had gone up against Riddick and had not fared well. One of the crew was left alive on the raggedy ship the band had been using. The only female of the crew. A curvy blonde who couldn't even use a gun or fly the ship she'd been left with.
Dahl looked at the report and felt her veins ice over as the particulars of the woman's wounds became clear. "She was at a Companion's training house. She went to answer the front gate and they took her."
"Luna learned a bit too much from Santana," Johns said grimly as he read the reports over her shoulder. "Guild's wanting to know if we want the claim."
Dahl considered it, and smiled at his surprise, "If we claim vengeance, no one else can." She shrugged. "He was ours. We let him go but they consider any claim we make as having precedence. We can go out there, help her sell the ship and take her back to the training house if she wants. And no other guild clan will be allowed to go after them. Until we release the claim."
"Seems like the least we can do for Kitten."
The woman wasn't surprised to see them. "She said you'd come." Dark grey eyes watched them, wary but willing to give them a small benefit of the doubt. "She said Luna had a core of rotten to him, that you'd tried to carve away but you can't carve away the center."
"She was right," Dahl nodded. "We're here to help you get your life back. We'll take you back to the training house if you like. Help you sell this heap and get a stake for a new life if you want."
"I want to learn to fight," She looked at Dahl. "I want to be like her. Like you. So no one can ever do something like this to me again."
"We're not like her," Dahl cautioned her. "We're mercs. Luna was a merc too, much as it pains me to say it." Johns was smart enough to let her do the talking. After the treatment she'd had he hadn't figured she'd be too keen on any man. "And," Dahl continued, "We have two other clan members, both men."
"She told me. She said that Luna was wrong. And that if I wanted to be like her, like you, that you could teach me." The starvation thin chin lifted, "I won't hunt people that haven't done anything wrong. But people who hurt someone? I can do that. I'll learn. He... He said that as long as I kept that in mind, he wouldn't have a problem with me."
Dahl exchanged a look with Johns and nodded slowly. If this was what the girl wanted they'd try it. They had room on the ship and if they could do it for Luna they could do it for her. "All right. We'll teach you. We sell all this, get you set up with equipment, put the rest into savings. No one is an active merc forever. What's your name?"
"I'm Sheydra." The blonde beauty gave them a smile. "I was a Companion."
Well that was a kick in the head.
The wave came in the middle of the night. Dahl didn't see it until morning when Johns' curse woke her out of a sound sleep. "The Companion's Guild is rewarding us." He told her in astonished tone. "For the rescue of one of their own."
"They don't mind she's joining our Guild?" Dahl was groggily trying to process what she was hearing.
"Apparently they're just grateful she's alive, understanding of how she might not want to be an 'Active' Companion anymore and they'll welcome her back in any capacity she wants but they accept she needs to train with us in order to 'regain her balance'." Johns quoted dryly. "I think we owe Kitten and Riddick some money."
"Hmm... send the cortex address she gave us a wave. It's a dummy account but she still checks it." Dahl stuck her foot out of the bed and wiggled her toes at him. "And come back to bed."
Johns did as he was told, having learned when it was in his best interest to obey his wife's orders. "I think, despite losing two of our people, getting stuck on that rock with Riddick was one of the best things that could have happened to us." He kissed her forehead as he drew the quilts over them and tucked her into his arms. "We haven't done too badly since then."
"No," Dahl mused sleepily. "Not bad at all."
She could hear his grin in his voice, "After all, if I hadn't gotten so damn jealous of you fucking Riddick I might never have gotten the nerve to ask you why."
"And I might never have let my guard down to tell you," Dahl smiled. "Such a pair of fools."
"God looks out for fools and children." Johns chuckled.
"Which are we again?" Dahl teased and was squeezed tighter in retaliation.
The pillow fight resulted in feathers and down everywhere.
Neither claimed responsibility for the murdered bedding.
The perpetrator would never be punished despite years of searching.
Dahl still found feathers in odd places, even years later.
Author's Note: So this was something that I started about three years ago. As you all know I went through a couple of years where writing was very difficult for me and when I started writing again I was just trying to write something, anything, so I didn't go back to my old stuff for a while.
I'm really pleased that I'm finally back in something of a rhythm with writing and today after working a bit on Animals I pulled this up and decided that something in this universe would be fun. It takes something from the sequel to Break the Civilized Chains and gives you some background from a different viewpoint. And then it sort of took on a life of its own. I definitely didn't think I'd get to over 10K of words.
And don't forget to let me know what you think!
Chinese Translations:
Jī dū (Christ)
Gǒu niáng yǎng de (son of a bitch)
Nǐ tā mā de tiān xià suǒ yǒu de rén dōu gāi sǐ. (Fuck everyone in the universe to death)