A/N: Okay, so expect some major changes to this episode. I did my very best.
To: librarywitch, DarkDreamer1982, Chibiboku, ariblack, sxevlbtch, Rachet, ArtLightLove, Amethyst246, Elliesmeow, Oppenhiemer, SusanMarieS, CGandJaz, Hidden Relevance, Sabrina1204
You beautiful people… I referred back to my reviews incessantly to keep myself going with this episode.
And to Thug-4-less… you're the shizz-nit. Seriously, let's get this beta a cupcake or something.
None of its mine…well, actually in this episode some of the plot is, but unfortunately not enough to make any money off of, (so please, don't send me any, they'll sue) just a sporadic bursting of new twisty plot and some hopefully witty dialogue… okay now I'm just rambling…let's see how this goes.
*T*F*C*
Red Sun System
Silverhold-Outer Orbit
"Define issue." Nine regarded his counterpart stoically.
"They have exited the public and private shipping lanes; military Nav. Sat. lost them twenty minutes ago. They've gone into dead space." Twelve clarified reluctantly.
"Last known point." Nine demanded.
"Two days from our current location. Pursuit is no longer an efficient recourse."
"I am aware, Twelve. Run facial recognition scans through the security feeds on both Tyrus and Beaumonde. The Company grows impatient. We were contacted today."
A slight twitch affected Twelve's left eye. "And?"
"We are running out of time."
"There is no room left for error."
"None. We will find a weakness."
*T*F*C*
"Yep, a real beauty ain't she?" The portly salesman continued, unaware his fish on the line was no longer listening. "A right smart purchase, this vessel. I'll tell you what; you buy this ship, treat her proper, she'll be with ya the rest of your life."
*T*F*C*
"You're... ly-lyin'!" Zoe managed to choke out in between laughs. The entirety of the crew, save Wash, were gathered around the mess table; picking over the last remnants of dinner and, for the majority, doubled over in one state of laughter or another.
River, however, was not laughing and had hardly spoken since her 'episode' of the previous evening. Her head was titled slightly to the left. There was no humor; she was listening, just not to the crew. Mother was aching and each one of her labored breathes clawed at River's bones. Riddick was not laughing either; nor had he done much besides growl and snap at anyone who got too close to River.
"I swear it is," Book defended himself as he nearly doubled over in his chair.
"Surely one of you most have told him!" Inara laughed as she tried to catch her breath.
"No, not one of the brethren had the heart to tell him. He was so proud of it!" Book chuckled.
Wash chose that moment to enter and, not one to ever be left out of a good joke; he started laughing right along with the crew even though he had no idea why. The pilot always missed the good stuff.
"What? What was he proud of? Who's he?" He asked eagerly as he pulled an extra chair out alongside his wife.
"Looked rather natty, truth be told!" Book had to pause to wipe tears from the corner of his eyes as he took several large breathes to steady himself. The table broke out into another rowdy burst of laughter and Wash joined in though, once more, he had no idea why.
"What was natty? I want to hear about the natty thing." Wash asked eagerly.
"Shepherd Book was just tellin' funny stories about his days in the monastery." Kaylee offered as Book took a sip of his water to get his laughter under control.
"Monastic humor; I miss out on all the good stuff." He replied glumly as he searched in vain for a serving bowl that still had even a few morsels left in it. "And all the food too, apparently."
Zoe, still grinning, reached for a napkin covered plate. "And just who do you think you married?" She asked as she passed it to him. "Voila!" She pulled the napkin away with a bit of a flourish.
Wash absolutely beamed at her. "I love my wife." He informed her and the rest of the table as he pecked her on the cheek. "And so does my stomach." His closing remark earned him a few chuckles of his own.
"So, we got a course set?" Mal asked, grinning at the head of his mess table.
"We do." Wash affirmed as one arm went around his wife and the other picked up a fork. "Took a little creative navigating, but we should make it all the way to Greenleaf without running afoul of any Alliance patrols; or a single living soul for that matter. We're jumping between shipping lanes, a quick stint into dead space right now, a little bit of zig zaggy goodness, but it'll do."
"So's long as I can't feel them breathin' on my neck." Mal nodded his approval as he leaned back in his chair.
"'Course, what should be a twenty eight hour trip will take us the better part of a week to get there, but get there we shall." Wash added with a flourish.
"We're in no rush." Mal shrugged. "I like an easy, languorous journey."
"Oh, gee. What would that be like I wonder?" Kaylee asked good-humoredly; it was a testament to her disposition. River's bad day had left her to deal with Serenity's mechanical short fallings on her own; the weight of which could easily be seen in the dark circles beneath her eyes. She rose and began to collect a few of the dishes.
"Let me help you," Simon jumped up suddenly as Kaylee nearly lost a cup.
The scrape of Jayne's chair cut through the continuing conversation. "I got it." He snapped at him. "I can help her." The mercenary glared as he got up to take the dishes from Kaylee. Jayne might not have been book smart, but he knew men. He knew the looks of men and he'd seen just about enough of Simon's looks at Kaylee when the good doctor had thought no one was watching.
"You sit, Simon," Kaylee shooed him. "It's your turn anyhow. Shepherd told a story 'bout bein' a shepherd, it's your turn to tell one about bein' a doctor." She smiled brightly; which only caused Jayne's face to darken.
/ Brother better watch his eyes or Jayne ain't gonna be leavin' them in his head. / Riddick tried to think-speak to River for what must have been the tenth time in nearly two hours but, once more, he was ignored. A wooden chopstick snapped in his hand.
"Funny story " Simon pondered aloud as he thought about it; trying to decide which story would be funny in an understandable sort of way to the group as a whole. For once, the thought wasn't laced with its usual condescension. Doctor's just had a whole different brand of humor than most.
"Yeah, 'cos sick people are high-larious." Jayne deadpanned as he angrily scraped a dish; thoughts of Matty seeped into his head on their own accord.
"Well, they can be." Simon gave a kind of half-smirk; rarely seen on his face but, oddly enough, at home there. "In fact, I remember there was this one time I was working in the E.R. and this fellow, very upright sort of citizen, comes in complaining "
"Now 'Nara," Jayne interrupted. "She's gotta have some real funny whorin' stories, I wager." He redirected the conversation pointedly. He didn't want to think about Matty or how doctors laughed at sick people. The idea of it had him just itching to stomp back over to the table and knock the Core-boy straight into the next system. It had been Core-docs that had diagnosed Matty's damp-lung and it had been Core-docs that took their meds with them when the Cobb family couldn't pay.
"Oh, do I ever." She made a sound which was somewhere between a girlish giggle and a seductive chuckle. "Funny and sexy; you have no idea." Her voice rolled and, without conscious realization, all the men at the table, including the Shepherd, found themselves directing the entirety of their attention to the Companion. Inara paused a breath and then deadpanned. "And you never will."
Zoe practically snorted her coffee across the table.
"A Companion doesn't kiss and tell." Inara continued on modestly.
"So there is kissing?" Mal asked and Inara shot him a quick glare before Zoe called the attention of the table to the matter at hand. The towering monstrosity of a cake that Kaylee was struggling to balance and from which a half a dozen crudely made candles were blazing.
"Hey, Doc," Zoe smirked with a jerk of her head. "I think Kaylee might need your help after all."
Simon turned in utter surprise and at a complete loss for words.
"Care to make the first incision, Doctor Tam?" Kaylee giggled. "Happy Birthday, Simon."
The crew, excepting Jayne, who was scowling; River, who was drifting; and Riddick, who didn't give a shit about anything at the moment other than what was making River twitch, echoed the sentiment in varying degrees.
"This is... " Simon stuttered with a broad grin; truly touched. "How did you all know? River did you?"
River up until this point hadn't even noticed the cake and she stared at it curiously, before piecing together what was happening from the crew's minds. "'Day' is a vestigial mode of time measurement, based on solar cycles. Not applicable." She frowned. "I didn't get you anything."
Mal broke the moment of small uncomfortableness that usually followed one of River's statements. "Seems a fresh warrant came up on the cortex; had your birth date attached right to it."
Simon sucked in a nervous breath, "Really?"
"I hope you like it," Kaylee interrupted hurriedly as she was anxious to not have the moment ruined. She loved cakes and birthdays above all else. "I couldn't get ahold of no flour, so it's mostly protein." She blushed. "In fact, it's pretty much what we had for supper, but I tried to make the frosting as chocolatey tasting as possible."
"Ain't just a genius with machines." Jayne grinned at her. He had spent the better part of the afternoon dodging wooden spoon swats as he strategically raided the frosting bowl. It was a damn fine cake. He could vouch for it personally. Though, if you asked him, it was wasted on the doc.
"Thank you." Simon said graciously. "I must have lost track of the days. I didn't even realize... " his voice choked up slightly. "I'm truly, deeply moved."
"Yeah, well it happens out here in the Black." Wash shrugged. "Somewhere between dodging Reavers, Alliance, and bullets, things get a bit hazy." Another, somewhat humorless, round of laughter circled the table. If you didn't laugh about some things, you'd probably run screaming to hide in a corner.
"Well, deeply move yourself to blow out those candles." Jayne said with an actual bit of a real smile on his face as Kaylee smacked his hand away from dipping into the frosting. "So's we can all get a slice." In Jayne's case, it would be his third; which was precisely why the cake was four layers and not five. Kaylee had needed to do a bit of impromptu surgery herself after his confectionery predation. The table echoed with real laughter this time.
"Come on, Doc, give it a good blow." Kaylee urged.
Simon grinned at her for a second longer before sucking in a large gulp of air to blow out the candles; the breath was choked on as Serenity shuddered hard and the lights flickered.
"What the Hell was that?" Jayne asked nervously; voicing the question on the tip of everyone's tongue.
/ River? / Riddick pushed more harshly than before; again there was no response. To anyone who was not Riddick, the girl looked blank. Riddick knew that look. It was the one that always raised the hairs on the back of his neck. / River! / He barked at her, and still nothing.
"Probably just a hiccup," Kaylee shrugged; no one was buying it, not with the look on her face. "I'll go check it out."
"I'll check the helm." Wash added nervously as he pulled the napkin from his collar.
"Fire." The word slipped out from between River's lips as if it was almost an afterthought.
"Right, okay then," Simon turned back to his cake, assuming she meant his candles.
Reality shifted.
She stared into the flames.
They called to her.
The River bled through her skin and carried her.
Swirling into the flames which twisted and licked and burned at her skin.
Sunshine destroyed by fire.
Reality shifted.
An explosion rocked the ship. The deafening boom shattered through Serenity. Kaylee froze at the aft-deck entrance. Logic and the basics of human survival should have put her in motion as she watched in horrified awe as a ball of brilliant fire hurtled towards her. Fear and perhaps disbelief kept her rooted to her spot.
"No!" River shrieked and both hands planted on to the table as she launched herself over it. Her body collided with Kaylee's and knocked the mechanic clear of the ball of fire which roared into the mess.
"River!" Riddick was on his feet and moving over the table in the same manner River had but it was too late. The resulting concussion from the blast threw back the entire crew. The sickening crunch of River's body slamming against the counter as she suffered the brunt of it sent Riddick back into motion as he recovered far more quickly than any of the others. When a second explosion rocked the ship, he slammed the aft-deck door closed just before another cloud of fire could erupt into the mess.
Simon, Riddick and Zoe hovered over River; while Jayne, Inara and Book made for Kaylee.
"Jayne!" Mal roared. "Seal off everything that leads below decks. Do it now! Wash, bridge!" Mal ordered as he made a break for it as well.
Jayne spared a moment to share a look with Kaylee. "I'm fine, go." She pushed him away. Serenity was more important. Jayne crushed her to him in an unusual and frantic public display before spinning on his heel and making a break for the doors.
"River!" Riddick barked as he shook her. "Goddamn it, Doc! Why ain't she opening her eyes?!" He could hear her heartbeat, faint, hesitant. The sound was rupturing through his brain and that thing beneath his skin was clawing at his flesh.
"I need my med kit." Simon's voice was steady. This was not his sister lying and dying. This was not River. This was a patient. Just a patient. He repeated the mantra over and over in his head until he could believe it somewhat and evaluate her injuries without the containment of panic.
Riddick was on his feet and moving towards the aft-deck. "We got fire." Zoe shook her head and blocked his path. Riddick spun on his heel and made for the foredeck; he was stopped by Jayne's body.
"Ain't goin' this way." Jayne planted his feet. "Whole place is burnin'."
"Move." The word was barely coherent beneath the snarl which erupted from his lips. "Or I will move you." His voice was lethal.
"I let you through, we all die." Jayne said firmly. It was not lost on him that Riddick's girl, though he refused to use the terminology, had gotten hurt saving his girl. He owed River but, if he let Riddick through before the fires could be vented, it would be a moot point.
"You don't and you'll die for damn sure."
"Riddick!" Simon's voice was the only thing that cut through his haze. "Riddick, I need you to help me hold her down!" Simon pleaded as River's body began to convulse.
Jayne would live the rest of his life without ever admitting to anyone precisely how terrified he had been in that single moment where he thought he had seen Riddick's hand move for a shiv. As soon as his feet could move again, he was on Riddick's opposite side holding down River's legs, while Riddick took her arms and Simon tried to keep her from cracking her skull open on the grating.
*T*F*C*
"I got fire alarms on every lower level!" Wash yelled at Mal. "Primary systems failing and no response from auxiliaries!"
Mal flew to the controls and slammed down on Serenity's airlock. From the bridge, he and Wash watched in a sort of dazed wonder as a column of spiraling fire was sucked from their core and spewed from their ship.
"Wuh de ma (mother of God)." Wash breathed.
*T*F*C*
"How much?" Simon asked tersely; one hand holding a set of photographs in a white knuckled grip.
"It's not just about the money, Doctor Tam." The scarred man who sat across the table replied with a heavy exhale.
"It always comes down to money." Simon replied evenly. "Just tell me how much."
"This time it ain't." The man shook his head. "I don't have a man on my crew who can deal with the med equipment they got in the facility. Truth is, one of mine might do more harm than good; or your sister might."
"What do you mean River might? She's never so much as killed a spider. You're going there to rescue her."
"Don't know how much of your sister is left." He admitted reluctantly. "My intel says they've implanted her with behavioral programming, including attack triggers."
"I don't understand."
"Like a guard dog, Doc, peaceful and cuddly even, but master gives the words and the beast will tear your nuts off. Don't matter none iffin' you've just given him a treat. Even if we got her out, you two would be on your own. I can't risk it; not at one of the Fraternity's safe houses. We don't know what her triggers are."
"Behavioral triggers?" Simon asked in disbelief.
"She's part of a weapons program Doc."
"She's just seventeen."
"Don't change the fact."
Simon stared down at the photographs in front of him; the sunken eyes of his sister pleaded with him, her cracks lips begged him. "I'll do it."
"What?"
"I'll go in."
"Ain't nowhere for you to take her, Doc."
"I'll find someplace safe. Just tell me what I have to do."
"Crossin' a line there's no coming back from, son. You sure this is what you want?"
"Yes."
*T*F*C*
Simon tore through the door of the infirmary as Riddick carried River behind him, with Zoe close on his heels.
"Get her on the table!" Simon barked as he furiously started pulling out equipment. "Zoe, get her on the monitors." He ordered. "I need to get her vitals back up."
"Talk to me, Doc." Riddick snarled.
"No sign of burning. It has to be internal." Simon answered but he wasn't actually talking to Riddick. "I need to do a scan."
Kaylee watched from the door way; gripping the frame. She couldn't take her eyes of River as the scores of wires and monitors were attached to her body.
"Kaylee. Kaylee." She didn't hear Mal calling her.
"She's in shock." Inara touched Mal's shoulder gently.
"Kaylee!" Mal barked harshly as he pried her fingers off the doorway. "Kaylee," he said again more gently as she focused on him. "I need you right now."
"She ain't movin'." Kaylee said quietly and Mal was unsure if she was referring to River or the ship.
"I know it." Mal chose to acknowledge it on both accounts. "But she needs you now." Again he referred to both River and Serenity. "We gotta 'suss out what happened so we can get her going again, right?" He told her very gently.
Kaylee gave him a vague sort of nod as she bit back on her lip to keep from crying.
"Think you can do that?" Mal pressed as he turned her body away from River and to the engine room.
"Yes, Cap'n." She nodded slowly.
"That's a good girl. What do we know?"
"Catalyzer on the compression coil blew. That's where the trouble started."
"Captain Dummy talk."
"We're dead in the water." Kaylee replied meekly as her gaze drifted back to River through the infirmary window.
"Can you fix it?" Mal asked the question.
"Is River gonna be okay?"
"Look at me, Kaylee." Mal ordered gently. "You leave that to the Doc. I need to know if you can fix our girl."
"I can try... "
"I just need to get her limpin' that's all."
"It's worse than just the coil." Kaylee said the words aloud and a solid pit formed in her stomach as she swallowed hard to keep talking. "Main-life support's down on account of the engine bein' dead."
"Right, but we got auxiliary." Mal was trying to get her to focus on the positive.
"No, we don't." She said bluntly, earning her the attention of every present member of Serenity. "It ain't even on. Explosion must have knocked it out."
"So what are we breathin'?" Mal asked, hoping she was wrong.
"Whatever got pumped into the atmo before the explosion shut it down."
"Mosta that oxygen got burned up by the fire when it went out the door." Jayne grunted. "Means whatever's left is what we got." He finished grimly.
"How long?" Mal turned back to Kaylee.
"A coupla of hours." She shrugged.
/River, come on girl. Know you can hear me./ Internally Riddick was raging, his outward appearance was entirely stoic. / Open your fucking eyes! /
"How bad is it?" Mal demanded as he moved towards the infirmary door.
"Please, I need to work." Simon said tersely as he began prepping an IV . "Zoe, the restraints, when she wakes up with IVs, she'll lose it." Simon used the word 'when' because 'if' was an impossibility.
"Jayne, engine room; you back Kaylee however you can." Mal began giving orders. "Book, Riddick, damaged assessment on the bay and halls. Wash, with me on the bridge."
Riddick growled but otherwise made no indication he'd heard the captain; nor did his eyes leave River's body.
"You hear me Riddick?" Mal snapped.
"Chur ni-duh (screw you)." Riddick's voice was calm; but the words were bitten off hard.
Mal took a step forward; surprisingly it was Book that stopped him. "I'm a fair enough hand. I'll be able to do it on my own." Many years may have past between the man Riddick was then and who he was now, but the set of his body, the edge in his tone, they were telltale signs that never changed and Book knew these well. "If River wakes up in a fit, she'll do more harm to herself. Riddick is the only one she listens to."
Mal was going to argue; he wasn't a man to admit fear, but the steady rumbling which was emanating from Riddick sent a chill down his spine.
"I'll help the Preacher; ain't any use in the engine room." Jayne offered a bit more surprisingly than even the Preacher's intervention.
"Fine." Mal gritted out. "Just get it done. Wash, bridge, now."
*T*F*C*
"Oh, yeah. This is all very doable." Wash grunted appreciatively as he rolled out from beneath the navigational console. "A few modifications and you'll be surprised; you could get some real maneuverability outta this girl."
"So, you'll take the job then?" Mal asked from the bridge doorway, a bit distracted by the bush of a mustache on the man's upper lip. It kind of made it a bit hard to distinguish if the man was smiling genuinely or sarcastically.
"Might do, might do. Think I'm startin' to get a real feel for her here." He answered as he made himself comfortable in the chair; though the chair, at this juncture, was a moot point. There was a real beautiful lady standing behind Captain Reynolds; even if she did look like she could and would break him in two with her pinky.
"Good." Mal grinned. "Well, you just take all the time you need. Make yourself at home. Fiddle with the dials," Mal encouraged. "We'll be nearby." Zoe was clearly not pleased so he took the hint and followed her down the bridge stairs and out into the foredeck hall. "He's great, ain't he?"
"I don't like him." She dismissed immediately.
"What?" Mal asked incredulously.
"Something about him bothers me is all." She replied firmly.
"What? What about him bothers you? Mustache is a little weird, I'll give you that, but..." He gave her a smirk and an easy shrug.
"Not sure just... something."
"Well your 'something' comes up against a list of recommendations long as my leg. Tanaka raved about the guy; Renshaw, Mingo and Fanty, they're all chompin' at the bit to get him on crew. We need us a pilot and he's about as damn fine as they come."
"I understand that, sir," she replied tersely. "He bothers me."
"Look, we finally got ourselves a genius mechanic, now it's about time we hired somebody to fly the damn thing."
"Genius?" A well muscled and heavily tattooed blonde man pulled his head out from a cabinet. "Ain't nobody ever called me a genius before. Shiny."
Zoe really wanted to remark on that, but she chose to ignore it. "Just bothers me is all." She insisted.
*T*F*C*
"Come on, Wash, hired you for a reason; give me something I can work with." Mal snapped.
"It ain't doin', Mal." Wash admitted reluctantly. "We're dead in the water."
"What about a beacon? Anybody out there at all?"
"Scanners are dead, too. I can get a signal out, but it ain't gonna be much and there's nobody out there to hear it. You wanted under the radar; we're out in dead space, Captain." Wash fingered Marshall nervously; half his mind down below in the infirmary.
"Need to hear somethin' better than that." Mal snapped. "And maybe iffin' you stopped playin' with those gorram toys long enough, we might get one."
"Nobody's gonna pick up that damn signal, Mal!" Wash suddenly and uncharacteristically shouted angrily as he partially rose from his chair. "I got news for you! I'm reading nothing! Not from the main power supply, not even life support. We're all gonna be purple and bloaty in a few hours; but that'll be fine, 'cause unless Kaylee can pull off a miracle in that engine room we'll freeze to death first. There's nothing, Mal! Nothing to work with! She's been tellin' you the ship's need repairs for months! Don't you pin this on me! We're out of range, just where you wanted us!"
"Make it stronger." Mal spat out through gritted teeth.
"With what, Captain? The hopes and dreams of orphaned children? I got nothin'. Nothin'!"
"You're my pilot, make it happen, gorramit. I don't care iffin' you got to get on a suit and... "
"And what?" Wash shot back incredulously. "Wave my arms around? There's nobody out there to hear us!"
"Wave your arms around; jump up and down. Divert the Nav. Sats. through the transmitter. Whatever it takes, Wash!" Mal growled.
"Divert the... ?" Wash laughed bitterly. "Yeah, 'cause teenaged pranks are so much fun when we're all about to die."
"It would give the beacon a boost, wouldn't it?" Mal questioned tersely.
"Yes, Mal." Wash deadpanned. "It would boost the signal but even if by the off chance some passerby did happen to receive it; all it would do is muck up their navigation."
"Could be that's true." Mal nodded; jaw set.
"Damn right, it's true!" Wash practically launched himself out of his chair as he threw his arms into the air. "They'd be forced to stop and dig out our signal before they could go anyp... " Wash's words trailed off as his accusations sunk in and he dropped back into his chair. "Maybe I should do that then." He muttered as his fingers began to fly across the console.
"Good."
"Fine."
"Get it done. Our girls are hurtin'."
*T*F*C*
Jayne dropped the crate he was carrying as pain laced through his right side courtesy of the cracked rib his spar with Riddick had caused.
"You okay, son?" Book asked with real concern.
"Ain't a thing." Jayne tried to shrug it off but was forced to sit to draw in air.
"Consider yourself lucky," Book admonished.
"Hey!" Jayne snapped, a bit affronted. "He didn't beat me that bad. Hell, I got in some real good ones. He's got three cracks to my itty-bitty one." He finished with a snort.
"Yes, but you haven't seen him flinch at all, have you?" Book replied, slightly amused.
"Ain't like I spend my days starin' at men." The merc retorted. "'Sides, that nice crack across his nose should say 'nough." He grinned. "Makes us even over my eye anyway."
"Jayne," Book started as he dropped onto the crate next to him, "I served with Riddick under my command."
"So?" The merc snorted again.
"When I said you should consider yourself lucky, I mean it with the utmost sincerity."
"Ain't followin', old man." Jayne eyed him as he scowled slightly.
"He was playing with you." Book said bluntly. "But, more importantly, he was testing you."
"The Hell he was!" Jayne exclaimed defensively. "I had 'im for a minute."
"Jayne, if Riddick hadn't been, you'd be dead and he wouldn't have a scratch on his body."
Jayne was immediately on the defensive. "What do you mean, "testin'' me?"
"I don't believe he was testing you to learn how to fight against you but, rather, how to fight with you. Richard B. Riddick considers you a friend."
"I can see your mouth moving, but I still ain't followin'. I can't see why he'd hold back. He was right pissed over findin' out I was stackin' the deck in cards."
Book chuckled slightly. "And that only proves my point further."
Jayne raised an eyebrow.
"On Sigma Three we were a Sweeper team; do you remember me saying that?" Jayne nodded and Book continued. "Sweepers worked in teams of three. One man served, um well, as bait, so to speak, while the other two moved in for the kill. Spitfires are vicious things. No bigger than a leopard and more reptile than cat, but faster than you can imagine. They spit out acidic venom; hence the burn scars along Riddick's torso. The decoy was decided by chance; a game of dice. Riddick learned quickly that the best way to survive the mines was to not be the decoy. The penalty for being caught cheating was delivered behind closed doors at the hands of your fellow Sweepers. Riddick was never caught once, though he caught more than a dozen others. The fact you were able to stack the deck and pull off your scam no doubt impressed Riddick."
"Don't see how gettin' beat at your own game makes a man open to friendship." Jayne pondered skeptically.
"Riddick, by nature, is a survivalist; not a loner. It's just easier to survive on your own. Cunning, which it took to cheat him, is something he exalts highly. You're skilled at what you do and Riddick appreciates skill. These things make you useful and worthy. He offered the idea of a spar. didn't he?"
"Yeah " Jayne nodded suspiciously.
"As I thought." Book returned Jayne's nod with a more thoughtful one. "I suspect he wanted to feel out your weaknesses. I don't doubt, as soon as this mess is over, that he'll try to begin training you. He'll never turn on you now. Riddick's respect is hard earned, but I believe you'll find it is well worth the effort."
"That's just about as crazy as some of the gou shi (crap) River's always spittin' out." Jayne grunted, but the wheels in his head were reluctantly turning and, the more he thought about it, the more he did kind of see Riddick as a friend. "Weren't you two friends?" Jayne inquired uneasily. Riddick had come pretty close to gutting the Shepherd on more than one occasion so he wasn't exactly jumping onboard the Riddick friend train just yet.
"I still am." Book groaned slightly as he pushed himself off the crate.
"You sure 'bout that?" Jayne questioned the Preacher's intelligence.
"If I wasn't, and Riddick truly no longer trusted me, he would have never let me onboard this ship. He's angry with me, but I am still his friend, and was once his Commander. We're not in the service any longer of course, but Riddick's loyalty is until death."
"Why'd he let me get in so many hits?" Jayne asked, now that he replayed the spar in his head he could see a few blows that Riddick could have easily dodged.
"He was testing the power behind your strikes. You're a boxer, Jayne, that's why he kept you on the ground and that's why he threw that kick you failed to execute back at you. He was proving a point. Don't try to pull off techniques you don't have the skill level for and stay off the ground; and I wager he wanted to know if a man you hit would stay down," Book shrugged.
"Yeah, well," Jayne said glumly. "He didn't."
"Riddick is not most men." Book nearly chuckled.
"What's that mean?"
"Did Riddick ever tell you about his eyes?" Book asked.
"Yeah, said a Slam doc did it; somthin' 'bout cigarettes. Been thinkin' 'bout findin' a doc that would do it on me. Ain't ever seen it 'fore, but I imagine it's all kinds of useful."
"You won't." Book informed him.
"Why? He still in the Slam?" Jayne asked, disappointed. "Has to be another one out there that can do it. Hell it's almost worth the trip to a Slam."
"Riddick worked the mines long before his first stint in the Slam." Book added conversationally.
It took Jayne a few moments to work out in his head what the Shepherd was trying to tell him. "So iffin' he didn't get it done in the Slam, where?"
"I don't believe that's my story to tell." Book shrugged. "Ask him, and he'll most like tell you now, but believe me when I tell you, Jayne; whatever you have seen him do isn't even half of what he is capable of."
"Been in fights before with him. One back on Unification Day was a dozy." Jayne chuckled at the memory.
"And I guarantee you he held back."
"Why'd a man do that for?"
"Because he felt no real threat, most likely," Book shrugged. "You put him, or someone he counts as his, on the line and you will see an entirely different animal; that I promise you."
*T*F*C*
"You worthless piece of shit!" Riddick roared as he grabbed up his unfortunate team member by the pads on his suit. His mercurial eyes reflected an almost surreal blue in the darkness. "You're supposed to be watching my ass!" He slammed the man against the hard stone of the mine and all air was torn from his lungs.
"Riddick, man, take it easy!" Wilks, the third member of the three-man team shouted and made the mistake of trying to grab Riddick's arm.
Riddick let go of Kurtis, spun and sent Wilks flying into the opposite wall with one solid punch. Without the slightest hesitation or break in movement, Kurtis was back up against the wall. This time Riddick's shiv held him in place.
"I should end your miserable shit life before you get me fucking killed!" Riddick snarled as his shiv cut through the first layer of skin and Kurtis pissed himself. Riddick's nose curled at the scent that mingled with the smell of his own burning flesh. A large portion of his padding had burned away, the edges of what remained was melted into his skin as the exposed flesh bubbled and crackled.
Kurtis was whimpering now; he'd lobbied and bribed and begged his way onto Riddick's squad; which seemed to maintain a much higher than average life expectancy, and in less than two weeks he'd found himself on the man's shit list. "What do you want from me, man?" He managed to choke out. "I had to take a fuckin' piss! You're still alive!"
"Wrong answer." Riddick growled. "You watch out for your brothers." Riddick tossed the worthless shit to the ground and withdrew his silenced sidearm. Two shots, one in each kneecap.
Kurtis screamed; the sound echoed through the mines. "What the fuck?! You fuckin' shot me! You fuckin' hun dan (bastard)!"
Riddick didn't bother to respond with words and simply planted his boot into Kurtis' ribs. He turned away from the sobbing man to help up Wilks who was still slightly dazed from the crack of his head against the wall. "Time to go."
"Where are you going?" Kurtis yelled.
"Gotta take a piss." Riddick rumbled without looking back. "Got a little less than ten miles of unlit mine; you make it back, I won't kill you."
"What!? You can't be serious! You shot me in the fucking knees!"
"You watch out for your brothers." Riddick rumbled darkly. "You're lucky I left your guns."
*T*F*C*
Riddick picked up the slow dying of River's heart even before the monitors did. "Simon " He quietly growled a moment before the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor flat-lined; the ominous tone froze her brother for a half of a second before he became a whirlwind of motion.
"I need adrenaline! Her heart's stopping."
Riddick torn open the cabinet and fumbled for the bright yellow package. He bit back the plastic sterile wrapping and tossed it to Simon; who bit off the cap and poised the needle above River's chest as Zoe cut open the fabric of her shirt. Simon swallowed and drove the needle directly into River's heart.
The sound of blood pumping through her heart and the intake of air in her lungs flooded Riddick's ears.
/ What I tell you about dying, girl? / He growled at her through their minds. He knew she could hear him. He waited for her reply, for her to tell him to fuck off, or eat shit. When nothing came, a roar he could not repress broke out from his lips as his fist dented a cabinet door into two.
"Doc," Zoe's voice trembled slightly as she eyed the respiratory monitor.
"Cao (Fuck)!" Simon swore.
"What?!" Riddick whirled around, practically snarling.
"Zoe, prep the ventilator." Simon ordered ignoring Riddick.
"What is it?" Riddick demanded again.
"I'm going to have to tube her." Simon gritted out.
"Doc, you best start talking! What the fuck is wrong with her?" Riddick growled as he clenched and unclenched his fists.
Simon, however, did not spare a moment for explanations as he forced the tube down River's throat.
"Blast Lung." Zoe informed Riddick mechanically as she assisted the doctor. "From the concussion blast; seen it a hundred times in the war. Her body is going into shock."