XXV.

Riddick hadn't been able to hail her and was more than surprised when he got hailed by a man introducing himself as Taylor. He used Hope's ID code and bore enough family resemblance to prove his words right. Riddick could see grieve in the man's eyes, tension and anxiety and he knew instantly that something was wrong. Badly wrong.

Taylor had been a bit too vague with his answers, had refused to talk about what had happened over the com and he himself had been very vague with his time of arrival; they would not expect him within the next 12 hours. He approached them really carefully, scanned the whole area first, had a close look at the park and the surrounding houses for any signs of betrayal; no need to rush it, half an hour more or less wouldn't make any difference, now would it?

He entered the house through a window on the 2nd floor and listened closely to the voices downstairs. He stopped outside the living room, listening and waiting. Four people sat across a dining room table, an elderly man, a younger one, a woman with a child on her lap.

The woman sobbed, the younger man had his arm around her and tried to sooth her.

"I don't understand why she turned off the headset. Wouldn't it be safer to stay in contact?"

"Not necessarily; it could blow her cover when we start talking in the wrong moment."

"But we would not do that. I want to know how my baby is."

"You've heard her, Julie is doing fine. We'll hear from her when she's ready to talk. I wonder when Riddick arrives. He won't be pleased hearing what happened." Taylor tried to take her mind for at least a second away from Julie.

"You trust her as if you'd know her for more than only one day ... what if she wasn't honest with us? And I just don't care if Riddick isn't pleased with the situation here … do you think I am? It's not our fault Julie got kidnapped and it was Hope's decision to go alone … you offered to go with her. She's a very strong-willed and assertive person, she wouldn't have changed her mind; he should know that."

"I shouldn't have caved in that fast, should have tried harder. And I just know that I can trust her. Do you remember asking me yesterday why I was so antsy and wouldn't stop looking out of the window? I sensed her from the moment I came home. I knew that she was out there. And I'd know it if she wasn't honest."

"I hope you are right. It's the life of our child that's at stake here."

"I know; and I am, baby. She'll bring her back. But strong-willed or not … I won't let her go after the mercs on her own. If Riddick doesn't arrive on time I'll go with her to get rid of them."

"You mean ..."

"Serenity, she is right. If the mercs live to tell we'll never have peace again. And they have threatened my family; I won't let them get away with that."

Serenity looked in shock at her husband; she saw a side on him she didn't know yet.

"Baby, don't look at me like that. Think it over and you'll agree with me."

Jeff hadn't said a single word during the whole discussion but now he laid his hand on Serenity's shoulder. "Seri, he is right. As soon as Julie is back you should start packing. In fact it would be a good idea if you'd start right now. Let Dylan help you, it will distract the both of you. We'll leave as soon as the problem with the mercs is solved. Riddick should be here in a couple of hours."

Serenity remained sitting on the couch … she didn't want to get distracted, she wanted her baby back.

"Yeah, wonder what he's like; Hope has a strong believe in him." Despite the situation he had to grin. "Who would have thought that my sister is not only an alpha of a long-forgotten race but in love with a convict and on the run herself; can you imagine that? Kinda funny, isn't it?"

At that point Riddick had heard enough to be certain of the intentions of the people and choose to enter the living room.

"I assure you it's anything but funny to be in love with me." he growled low.

The three of them jumped up and stared at Riddick; they hadn't heard him approach until he spoke.

Taylor composed himself first. "But she loves you so there must be more about you than your rep sheet shows. And I didn't mean it that way."

Riddick just nodded; his relationship with Hope wasn't to discuss. "I assume she told you everything about me? Good. Now tell me what happened." he ordered.

And like all the other Furyans Riddick and Hope had met on their way they bent to Riddick's authority, his being a convict didn't matter, they accepted him as their alpha and obeyed …. ten minutes later he was filled in everything Taylor and his family knew.

"Since we can't talk to her right now I'll check on her before I get rid of that mercs. No need to accompany me. Hope and I leave immediately afterwards so if you want to join us you'll have to be prepared."

Jeff wordlessly handed Riddick a flexi with the coordinates and everything Hope had recorded. It didn't take Riddick long to look through everything and after accepting a headset from Taylor he went off, leaving them even more confused; he was not one bit like they had envisioned him.

The knots in Riddick's guts got tighter each passing minute as he hurried to the cargo area and he had nearly reached his destiny when he heard a kid over the headset. The kid?

"Dad, I'm out! Hope told me to talk to you after 2 minutes and to tell you where I am."

Riddick was glad the kid was out but where the hell was Hope? Why had Hope given her the headset? Why was the girl all on her own?

Taylor's voice clearly showed his relieve and his worry. "Julie, I'm with you in a minute! Stay hidden. Where is your aunt? Why did she let you go on your own?"

Riddick could hear a silent sob from the girl … "I don't know. She said she had to clean up. She didn't make any mess so why does she have to clean up? And I don't understand why she asked me about my weight."

Clean up? Weight? What the … FUCK! He instantly knew what that meant and although it seemed impossible he ran even faster.

And then he had that feeling again. It felt like a fist squishing his heart, a knife getting twisted in his guts as a yet unknown fear tried to creep up and he nearly was unable to fight it down. But fear wouldn't help her now, she needed him calm, on top, alert.

He could already see the building and when he closed the last distance the door got yanked open and Hope stormed out. She ran that fast she nearly flew across the concrete, headed for one of the larger containers. He was still so far away from her. He changed direction, watched her while running across the flat tops of the storage containers.

'Don't look back, babe, run!'

And then the bomb exploded; he could see the shockwave grab her and smash her against the container, saw the piece of chunk hit her back and then the ridge of the shockwave reached him and in his struggle to stay upright he lost sight of her for a moment. He resumed running the second he had steadied himself again, he had to reach her; he knew that everything would be all right as soon as he reached her.

He kneeled down beside her mere minutes later and nearly choked at her sight. She looked like each bone in her body got smashed, she had countless smaller injuries, a shoulder was dislocated and she had a profoundly bleeding head wound; there was so much blood pooling underneath her he had doubts there was any left in her.

Surprisingly she had her eyes open … he could see her blinking. She seemed to try to say something but he couldn't hear a single word coming out of her mouth. But he was with her now, he would make her better. Had to.

"BABE!"

He tried to get her attention but she kept staring up in the sky as her lips soundlessly formed a word … his name.

"Babe, I'm here!"

And then she closed her eyes, he saw the reflexive shudder of her muscles, saw her body going limp and his heart stopped beating.

"NO!!!"