Chapter 26: The Lady and the Lions

"Problem?" Toombs says. He's lookin' at me, but he's talkin' to her. She doesn't say anything. "You two know each other?" he asks, all casual like.

Shit. "Like to get to know her better," I say, all light. Her eyes flicker across me, fix on my chest. Maybe she likes the necklace? My hand twitches to give it to her. Down boy.

Toombs snorts. "Well, she don't get her job done, you might just get to do that. After I've had a couple of goes."

"Jesus, Derek," the girl merc says. Jack drops her eyes and shudders. It takes me a ridiculously long time to figure out what he just said. My head whips around to him and the bastard's smirking at me.

I'm going to kill him slowly.

Jack takes a breath like she's going to say something. Nara steps forward, hands out. "Derek, please. I know-" her voice catches. She keeps going. "I know what your orders are. But as long as she's here and cooperating, I want her treated well." Right. Nara. Don't wanna kill her. Stupid to kill anyone until my ship's fixed. I force myself to stay relaxed. Toombs looks like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He gives her a nod. Jack's eyes flicker back to me, and the hope and fear in them makes me nauseous. Nara just keeps on talkin'. "Where are her shoes? These floors will rip up her feet."

"Got 'em right here," Toombs says, lifting up a rucksack. "With the rest of her shi – her stuff. I'll play along, doc, but my orders say I gotta keep her under control. Given what happened last time, that means she stays in restraints under my watchful eye."

"We'll need her hands," Nara says, evenly. "We need to get to work. And she can't walk in the tunnels in bare feet."

"If she can't walk, she can't run," Toombs says, seriously.

"I could carry her." I say to Nara. Didn't know I was gonna say it until I heard myself do it. Jack flushes red.

"What a good idea," Nara says. I wink at her and turn back to Jack, standing there in her ridiculous green dress and bare feet, hands shackled behind her. Trembling. Hits me she's cold.

Toombs looks at me, all suspicious like. "Who the fuck are you, anyway?"

I shrug at Nara. "I'm with her." I force myself to move like I ain't plannin' on killin' anyone. Jack's so tense it's making my teeth ache. But she doesn't step back.

"Derek, please meet Cyrus Richards. I hired him to help us move some archeological material," Nara says, all serious like. "I asked him to stay and help out since we seem to have been abandoned by the Balor corporation. Mr. Richards, please meet Derek Toombs. He has been attached to this project for a long time."

"Oh, transpo guy, huh?" Seems to make Toombs happy. "Glad you're here for sherpa duty."

I manage to roll my eyes at him. I'm right in front of her, and it's making me dizzy. Her eyes flicker up to me fast, then skate away like she don't wanna look. I'm tempted to cup her face in my hand, make her. I forebear. But I play nice guy and swing her up in my arms like I like her, instead of over my shoulder like I half intended. It's awkward with her hands cuffed, and she's so tight I'm afraid I'm gonna break her.

"Relax," I whisper into her into her ear loud enough for Toombs to hear. "Done this before. I'll be gentle."

She spasms. Toombs sniggers. My dick twitches. Down, boy. Now ain't the time. "Where we goin'?" I call out to Nara.

"That room we were working on," she says. I cuddle Jack close enough that her shivers tickle. Toombs sniggers again. I give him a grin. Like I'm winning. Why not? I got the girl and she ain't goin' nowhere without me. I head down the tunnel. Everyone follows along like ducklings. Great.

"I know why you lost the Balor folks," Toombs announces. "It's the little girl's fault."

"How?" Nara asks.

"Turns out that bitch Angela Hyperion." He spits on the ground. Jack flinches. "Fucking us over. Again. She went after them the moment we grabbed the girl. Started talkin' 'bout human rights violations and civil liability and Balor pulled out."

Jack's lips twitch, just a tiny bit. She likes that. Interesting. Toombs keeps on talkin'. "They shoulda let me scrag her ten years ago."

Whatever was making Jack happy goes away.

Nara stops. I don't. "How – how on earth did Angela Hyperion know to put pressure on Balor?"

"How the fuck would I know?" Toombs says.

"Did Aereon say anything about this to you?" Nara hurries after me.

"How do you think we know?"

Nara catches up with us. She gives Jack a very strange look. "Seems you've got better friends than I do, Jack," she says, bitterly. "You're a lucky woman."

Jack swallows. "You said – you said they did it to you too. What did they do?"

"Put a chip in my neck so I would do what they wanted. After you escaped, they didn't trust me."

"I'm so sorry," Jack says, faintly. "I didn't – I didn't mean to get you in trouble. Do I – do I have a chip in my neck?" Toombs snorts.

"Not yet," Nara says, darkly. "The man who was supposed to implant it died in his sleep. Jack, this is important. How did Angela Hyperion know to get involved?"

Fuck me, Jack's crying. I sigh, glare at Nara. She looks apologetic. "I'm sorry," she says. "But it's important. If we have a leak, the Necromongers might know about our work here."

Jack shakes her head. Toombs butts in. "You still fuckin' the little Hyperion?" The words make no sense to me. Jack says nothing. Toombs gets real close. "Your ex boyfriend not so ex?"

Boyfriend. The word splashes across me. "You wanna carry the little girl?" I hear myself ask.

"Nah."

"Then back off. Don't wanna trip over you."

"Be a pal, man." I snort. He backs off, just a bit. "You gonna cooperate?" He says to her, softly. "Make Nara happy?"

That seems to hit. "Balor tried to hire me. I got a bad feeling about it, and I called – Yunas. I needed a reality check. He was there last time you kidnapped me." My head whips over to Toombs, who snickers at me. "I also asked him to take care of my dogs," Jack adds, real quiet, like it hurts. "If anything happened to me. It wouldn't have been too hard to put together."

Dogs. Huh. I like dogs. Nara nods like that story makes sense to her. Think about asking if Jack's got a boyfriend. Decide that way don't lead anyplace good. I shift her slightly and her eyes flicker up to me, full of tears. I grin at her. She doesn't recoil this time, but there's no longer recognition in those green eyes.

"'Ain't kidnapping when you're working for The Man," Toombs says. "We're doin' the Lord's work. So ya think he'll try to rescue you?" Toombs says. "Charge in like a hero? Save the girl, save the day? Should we be ready for him?"

He's making fun of her, but I wanna know the answer too. "Once upon a time, maybe," she says, and there's a note of satisfaction in her voice I don't get. "He's got a wife and child now. Life goes on."

"Sometimes," Nara mutters. I look over at her. Shift Jack again; she's heavier than she looks.

We're there at last. Nara opens the door, turns on a lantern. The floor in the room is smoother, but still not great for bare feet. All the chairs have deep backs; I put Jack on one of those, she'll have to stand up to let Toombs get the cuffs off. I set her down on the conference table itself and step back. She gives me a quick look I can't interpret.

Toombs moves between us, slaps his communicator. "Hey, goat fucker. You find the jewelry yet?"

"Nope," Dhalgren says. "Still looking. This place is a mess."

Toombs grunts. "Just gotta make do, then." He pulls out a tangle cord from his belt, grabs Jack's right ankle. She tries to scoot away, but he knows what he's doing and he's got it looped around and tight before she can. Another loop around the other ankle, leaving himself with a long loose end. He shoves the table. When it doesn't move, he loops the end around a table leg. He steps back. I'm a little impressed. She can shuffle around the room, but she'll have to get the tangle off to make a break for it. Not an easy thing to do, even if you got a blade. I could do it. Doubt she could. She's breathing hard.

"Now can we get to work?" Nara asks, archly.

"Yes Ma'am," Toombs says. He uncuffs Jack's wrists, leaving dark marks where they cut into her. He swings the cuffs in the air in front of her. "Don't make me put these back on you, darlin'" he says to her. "Still real curious how you got out of them last time. Have to figure that before we go Riddick hunting."

I manage not to react at the way Jack flinches at my name. She rubs her wrists like they hurt, looks at the bag hanging from Toomb's shoulder. "May I have the Balor datapad?" she asks, very politely. Toombs opens the bag, stares into it, then dumps everything out on the table. Her shoes were on top; a small bag below. "May I put on my shoes first?" she says, politely, distantly. "I am cold."

"Of course, Jack," Nara says. "I'm really sorry about this. Did you bring a coat?"

"No," Jack says. "I didn't pack for a kidnapping this morning. My mistake." Good. She's getting her sense of humor back.

Toombs barks a laugh and shoves her shoes at her. "Sorry, darlin'. Last time we let you pack a bag, couple of guys died and you got away."

Jack's shoulders slump and her fingers are all shaky. Still, she gets her shoes on like she's afraid Toombs is going to change his mind. "I'm sure that wasn't your fault," Nara says, gently. "Derek, could you go to my room and get her one of my sweaters?"

"Nope," he says. "Send the transpo guy. I'm supposed to stay with her."

I grunt, take off my ice giant cape, tuck it around Jack's shoulders. Let my finger run across the side of her neck as I fasten it. She's got a leather cord around her neck I think I know. Maybe she packed for her kidnapping after all. I give her shoulders a squeeze. She blinks up at me again, and now I'm almost sure she don't know who I am. "Thank you," she says, softly. "But don't – don't be too nice to me. It's not safe."

"Don't worry about it," I say. "Did that asshole really kidnap you twice?"

"Nope," Toombs says, proudly. "Proper authorities turned her both times. Shook hands with her dad and everything."

I give him a sharp look, which he seems to like. "Well, that makes it all better," she says, seeming to recover. She moves out from under my hands, lowers herself to the floor. "Let's get to work."