Muffled voices from far away are what brought Rose back to consciousness. Her head felt like it was on fire and her eye sight was blurry. She started to sit up but a large hand on her shoulder gently pushed her back down.

"Don't move," Riddick whispered, knowing that her head hurt.

"You know something I don't," Rose stated rather than asked.

Riddick nodded, "I don't think you'll be dancing anymore."

Rose looked down at her legs as best she could from the angle she was lying at. The sight of a one inch steel pipe jutting out from the center of her right knee brought the searing pain racing through her body and she couldn't hold back the blood curdling scream that escaped her. Riddick winced at the sound and was about to pull the pipe out of Rose's knee when he heard Johns and the rest of the survivors running toward them.

"Go Riddick," Rose muttered through clenched teeth, "Don't let them catch you."

Riddick hesitated before kissing her hard on the mouth and running off. As soon as he disappeared, Johns appeared from the other side of the room; gun at the ready.

"My god," he said as he stared at the pipe.

"Are you gonna stare at it all day or are you going to pull it out?" Rose growled as five more adults and four kids gathered around her.

"Paris," Fry called, "Get the kids out of here."

Paris did as he was told without question and the four remaining adults kneeled down next to Johns.

"How are we gonna do this without her loosing too much blood?" Zeke asked.

"I'll tell you what to do," Rose explained, "Johns, you and Zeke will have to pull it out. We don't have any anestaphine so we're gonna have to wrap it as many times as we can to try and keep it from getting infected. Fry, I want you to hold my leg up just enough so that Shazza can wrap it without dragging the cloth on the floor. Just do me a favor and don't be slow about it."

Everyone got positioned where it would be best for their task to be taken out and got ready for the go-ahead. Rose took a deep breath and nodded. Johns and Zeke pulled the pipe out as fast as they could and as soon as it was out, Shazza was right there to start wrapping it while Fry held her leg up and Zeke held Rose down as she screamed. Riddick watched from the shadows, restraining himself from going to the only person he knew he could trust. He wanted to stay so he could make sure she was going to be okay, but he knew that as soon as they were finished, Johns would be looking for him. With one final look at Rose, he quietly left the small room and went to find a hiding place. Not wanting to think about how close Johns was to Rose at the moment, he began to think of when he and Rose had first meet.

Riddick walked down the streets of T4 in the Tango system. It was nearing sunset but he kept his goggles pulled down to cover his eyes and pulled the hood of his cloak up to help disguise himself. He had just escaped from Butcher Bay and was in need for repairs to the ship he had stolen. As he observed his surroundings, he noticed a large group of people standing in a circle, clapping and cheering. Curiosity got the best of him and he wandered near the back of the group. Through the thick mass of bodies, he could see a small girl no more than nineteen years old, dancing to the beat of a tambourine that an even younger girl held in her hands and a young boy with some type of instrument that resembled a trumpet from the stories of old Earth.

The dancer was short, maybe five feet tall; long black hair that went to her butt, and big emerald green eyes that sparkled with life as she sang, danced, and laughed at the children dancing around her. She wore a black shirt that hung off her shoulders and ended at her elbows, and a long, floor length white skirt that was torn around the bottom. She was barefoot and a silver charm bracelet around her ankle jingled as she moved. Her hair was half way pulled back to reveal gold hoop earrings and a silver necklace with an onyx gem in the shape of a heart.

Riddick noticed that some of the older people walking by would scowl at her and mutter under their breath about thieving gypsies. He may not have very many morals, but even he knew that she was being honest in her way of gaining money. She wasn't going around picking pockets, or stabbing someone. He then noticed that the music had stopped and most of the people were leaving, talking about how beautiful the dance was, or how cute the two children were. He looked over to where the girl had been and noticed that she and the two children were sitting on the ground, huddled together as they talked quietly. He inched closer, acting casual, so that he could hear what they were saying.

"Rose," the little girl said, "Why do so many people not like it when we perform?"

The dancer, Rose, Riddick now knew, smiled gently at the little girl and pulled her into her lap and replied, "Because Lily, many people who are like us are not so honest. They lie, cheat, and steal from people. It is people like them who give honest performers like us a bad reputation. It cannot be helped, but no matter what, we must keep doing what we love to do. Never let some one tell you that you can't."

"Can we get something to eat now?" the boy asked, full of energy after their flawless performance.

Laughing, Rose stood up and propped Lily on her hip with the little girl's arms around the gypsy's neck.

"Sure, Mike," she replied, "Let's get a loaf of bread and a couple of apples."

"Yay!" both children cheered. Lily jumped down out of Rose's arms and ran after Mike up the busy street. As Rose walked after them, she noticed a tall man in a black cloak standing near by. She acted as though she hadn't noticed and kept walking.

Riddick followed them, intrigued by this strange woman taking care of two kids who were not her own. He also noticed three other men following and had the feeling that they were not intending on being very friendly. Riddick would never hurt a woman unless she tried to hurt him first, so the prospect of seeing three men hurt an innocent woman was not something he was just going to sit by and watch. He watched as Rose merged in with the busy people, mingling with the different merchants while keeping an ever watchful eye on Lily and Mike.

They only spent about fifteen minutes moving through the city before finally walking toward the edge of town. Riddick followed behind the other three men who also followed the gypsy and two children. He watched from the shadows as Rose roughly pushed the door of an old run down shack that looked as if it would easily fall with a gust of wind. He could hear her and the children laughing, and saw the three men who had followed them sneak up to the door of the shack. One of them knocked on the door and the laughing from inside suddenly stopped. The man that knocked kicked the door in and Riddick could hear the screams of the children as the other two men quickly followed the first.

He ran up to the shack and peered inside. One of the men was on the floor, bleeding from a wound to his stomach. The other two had Rose pinned down, one holding her while the other attempted to pull off her skirt. Lily and Mike were huddled in a corner; one crying, the other screaming. Rose was kicking and punching her assaulters as best she could, but they were too strong for her. Riddick ran in as the sound of her skirt starting to rip reached his sensitive ears. He pulled both men off her and quickly, before anyone realized what had happened, sliced each of their throats open with two four inch shivs. He turned back to Rose as she cradled the two crying children, staring up at him with fearful, yet grateful eyes.

"Thank you," Rose stated calmly as she stood up in front of the kids, "If you had not come in when you did Riddick, I would no doubt be dead, and Lily and Mike would have been taken."

Riddick was taken aback at the fact that she knew who she was, yet she showed no fear of him as his large frame nearly filled the little shack.

"No real man would hurt a woman that had done nothin' to him," he simply stated as he turned to leave.

"Please," Lily called as she ran up to him, "Please stay and eat with us. It is the only way we can thank you for helping us."

"She's right," Rose said, "We don't have much, but we can offer a little food and a place to stay for the night."

Riddick turned and looked between the three of them before nodding his acceptance of their offer. Rose's smile seemed to brighten the small room as she set to using what little different food items they had to make a small dinner for the four of them.