Pitch Black and Ultraviolet

Chapter Two
Johns and Riddick

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Michael Johns squeezed between some debris and out into an open area. Riddick was nowhere to be found, but he saw Angie lying unconscious on the floor.

Was she dead? Had Riddick killed her? Had he done anything else?

Thoughts of the deranged man hurting, killing, raping his sister all flooded his mind.

Then, all thoughts of his sister fled from his mind when a metallic rope wrapped around his throat. He grabbed at it, slipped his fingers between it and the flesh of his neck, wrestled with it. Unfurling his whip, he lashed at the evil man trying to choke the life out of him.

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I was having an easy time of keeping my balance while strangling Johns. But then I made the mistake of looking over at where I'd set Angel down.

She was gone.

She was fucking gone.

What the fuck?

Had someone – or something – taken her?

I couldn't even smell her, but I smelled the coppery scent of her blood. She was injured, cut up in some way... she hadn't been when I'd had her in my arms. When I'd kissed her so tenderly.

What the goddamn fuck? Where was she?

I felt my balance slip.

Shit!

I fell on Johns with bone crunching force, and found myself pinned between Johns' unforgiving gun barrel and the all-too-solid floor. Johns' fingers curved around the trigger, but suddenly a woman's voice – so familiar I almost had a heart attack – cried, "No!"

Suddenly, my senses were flooded with the scent of blood and sweat and tears, desert sand, and angelic femininity.

"Angie-"

"She's bleeding badly, you motherfucker, help her if you want to. If not, don't blame me if she dies. I didn't fuckin' touch her."

I sneered as Johns' gaze shifted from me to his sister, who had collapsed in a bleeding, gasping heap, and then back to me. Did he care more about the bounty than her? Motherfucker. "She'll bleed dry if you wait too long, Johns. An artery's been sliced."

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Johns knew the bastard wasn't lying. Riddick could smell blood, and arterial blood had a slightly different scent to it than any other kind – that's what the murderer had said when interviewed once. His sister was in deep shit, and Riddick, damn him, knew that Johns wouldn't let Angel die. Damn it.

"Ah, fuck you!" Johns grabbed Riddick by the front of his shirt and hauled him to his feet. He tied him to a support beam before going for Angel.

He dragged her into the light, laying her down at his prisoner's feet. Then he looked up and saw from the look on his face that Riddick recognized the problem immediately.

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I recognized the problem immediately. The bruise I'd seen earlier had swelled so badly it had split open, bleeding profusely. It was a new genetic mutation, something to prevent cranial pressure from head injuries. In some, it appeared naturally. In others, parents had a hand in selecting it during the bio-engineering process. If that was the only problem, I would have left her the hell alone, but there was more to it. The artery supplying blood to her brain had been damaged. She would bleed to death if I did nothing.

Of course, Johns did the most dumbshit thing ever.

He freaked out.

"Oh, God! Oh, my God!"

"She's still bleeding, pray all you fuckin' want. If you want her to actually survive the next ten minutes, I suggest that you untie me."

"Fuck you."

Johns looked around, frantic, to find a first-aid kit. Fucking imbecile.

"Untie me, and I'll help her. I've been hurt like that before, and know how to keep on my feet, for sure fuckin' alive. Let me help her."

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"Let me help her," the killer said calmly, quietly.

Johns was hesitant. He didn't trust Riddick, but Riddick knew that Johns would hesitate from the debt of the convict saving his sister. If he ever thought of killing him, he'd hesitate, and when the time came to pull the trigger, he'd hesitate. And Johns knew he'd hesitate. So was Riddick doing this for altruistic purposes, or to slow up his hunter?

Could he really make a decision based on Riddick's motives? Could he really let his sister die?

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He was taking too damn long! I was starting to get antsy. If he made me wait much longer, nothing I could do would help her at all. Besides, I sorta wanted to do it. Angel was a decent sort, and I had some honor left in me, my own code of ethics. You don't renege on a deal, you don't lie to the good guys, you don't hurt kids, you don't let the decent die, and you never double-cross a partner.

And Angel was beautiful, with soft lips.

I chuckled when Johns untied me.

I knew SBH anatomy, and knew that, on either side of an artery, were two pressure points that, when pressed, stopped the bleeding long enough for the enhanced healing factor to kick in. I found those points on the side of her head, on each side of her temple, and pressed. The bleeding nearly stopped, slowing to a trickle before finally ceasing. I turned my shined, black eyes to the bounty hunter, who scowled at me like I ought to be scared. I ignored him, and pressed a strip of Johns' shirt, ripped off during the tussle, to the large gash and bound it with a ragged strip from my pant leg. Knowing what I did about her race, I knew she'd be alright now.

"There ya go, Johns. Good as new, almost. Shit. And you were actually worried."

I looked down at Angel before glancing surreptitiously at Johns. I could see from his face that the Merk thought I was looking at Angel the wrong way. I probably was. When I looked at her face, there was something in my belly that clenched almost hungrily, like I wanted to eat her or something. Like I wanted to kill her.

Then I thought about what had just happened, her almost bleeding to death, and my face changed. I could feel it, but I couldn't stop it. I started looking at her tenderly, affectionately, somewhat glad she wasn't dead, wasn't going to die. I brushed back a lock of her baby fine blond hair, tucking it behind her ear.

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Johns had had enough of that shit. He wasn't going to let that monster touch his sister like that. He decided to distract the psychopath from whatever his current thoughts were regarding Angie.

"Carry her," Johns ordered.

"Fuck you!"

"Carry her, you son of a bitch!"

Riddick growled at Johns menacingly, and the other man backed up a step, suddenly terrified.

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When Johns backed up, showing throat like the whipped dog he was, I lifted Angel into my arms. Johns sighed and quickly got lost. He knew I wasn't going anywhere until Angel woke up. I had to make sure nothing else happened to her, like the bleeding began again. So instead of haring off like a smart man and escaping, I nuzzled her hair with my face, kissed her forehead. After breathing in her sweet smell, carrying it with me for a moment as I held my breath, I exhaled, kissed her soft mouth one more time, and carried her outside.

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Author's Note: Another revamped chapter. Some more stuff, but nothing too much added. Hope you new people are enjoying yourselves. Reviews rock my socks.