Ch. 15

I don't mean to, to alarm you

Can't you see now, it overtakes you

You're declining, disintegrating

You're gonna lose it all

This time you're wasting

"Release the Panic," Red

The squawk and yell on the other end of the Cortex were fairly predictable reactions, if she said so herself. River still couldn't help it. She laughed. Even through the doubt and fear that hovering in the back of her mind, the sight of Badger falling out of his chair, dumping his whiskey all over the place, was strangely satisfying. Behind her, out of sight beyond the door to the bridge, she could feel Riddick's curiosity and humor as she showed him what was going on.

A balding head appeared over the edge of the desk, bowler hat askew and eyes wide. "River," the man breathed. "That really you?"

She laughed again and waggled her fingers at him. "Right it tis luv," she said, and felt Riddick's mind go solid and impenetrable as he flinched away from the personality she'd chosen for the moment. No matter, she'd be herself soon. "How's business?"

Badger clawed his way back into his chair and rescued the whiskey bottle from the edge of the desk. He was white as a sheet and sweating. She was suddenly very glad that she wasn't actually standing in front of him. His hole smelled bad enough as it was. With Riddick feeding his senses to her, it would probably be unbearable. "Well now, don't rightly know," the man muttered once he'd taken a long drag off the bottle. "Got this crazy smuggler, see? Thinks he's better than me, stick up his pi gu like 'e was born wit' it up there. Tramping all over my business and making a right mess of things." Badger slammed the bottle down on the desk and glared. "Where the hell you been little girl? You know Reynolds' been combing the bloody 'Verse looking for you? Gonna drag the Alliance down on us all!"

River snorted and sat back, abandoning the Deyton colony accent. "Drifting in a cryo box tends to keep one from being able to contact her crew," she leaned forward and tapped the cam lens. "Or did you not look at the ID of the ship that just waved you? An old customer."

Riddick, relaxing now that she'd dropped the act, went stiff with fury. She sent him a mental wave of calm along with a picture of a cat with a ball of string. She knew what she was doing; he had to trust her on this. The fact that she was clinging to the jaguar as the source of her own grip on sanity had nothing to do with it. Nope, not a thing. He knew better too, but let her soothe the animal and keep control of the encounter as best she could.

In her moment of distraction, Badger had inspected his Cortex and gone a nice shade of pea soup green. She laughed again and sat forward to brace her arms on the console. "Now, Uncle, breathe."

He tried. He really did. But even from this far away, she could tell he was having visions of what she or her captain would do to him when they got in shooting distance. This was no good. A Badger paralyzed with fear got nasty, and that wasn't at all what she needed. As much as she enjoyed watching him squirm, she had to move things along before her facade crumbled completely.

"Badger," she said in her sweetest voice, with the smile to match. "You're turning colors."

"Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh ur-tze," he finally managed to get out. "River luv, if I'd a' known…"

She traced a finger over the screen, following his nose as he jerked and quivered and tried to figure out how far he could get before they caught him. Screwing Captain Reynolds over in a business deal was one thing, but Sargent Reynolds was an entirely different animal. A trigger happy one at that. Every time Badger's seen Reynolds since River disappeared, the man was less Captain and more Sargent.

River shook her head in mock sadness. "Water under the bridge. She knows he didn't know. But," she waggled a finger at him. Riddick's approval radiated through the bridge. "She is back in populated space now. Needs work. Has work. Even trade. She'll even throw in a slightly used cryo box." River sat back and examined her fingernails. They were getting long. She was going to have to trim them soon. She didn't think that Riddick, as much as he loved her hands all over him, would appreciate her digging furrows into his back.

He chuckled in her mind and told her no, he wouldn't mind. So long as he didn't need stitches afterward. She snorted and refused to promise anything on that score. Then she turned back to Badger, who seemed to have gathered himself a bit. "Don't," she warned. He froze mid-reach. "If you do, there will be no forgiveness."

"River, ya have any idea how long they have been look'n for you? Months!" She could see the man now, under Badger's mask. The one who told her stories of his home world, of the family he'd left after the Alliance made it too hard to find work. The one who'd lost his wife and child during the war and sworn never to get attached again. Built himself a hill, crowned himself king, set down roots. A fixture in the game now. Especially since he'd survived the purge of Serenity's contacts just prior to the Miranda wave. "Girl, yeh've got ta tell them, and if you don't I will!" He reached again.

"No!" It was meant as an angry shout, but came out more of a plea. Badger stilled, staring at her. "No," she said again, up now, both hands touching the screen. She was losing to the fear, and it was starting to show. She could hear Riddick growling behind her. He'd break cover soon. "Please, Badger. Listen! She… I will call them. I will. Need your help though." River made herself sit back and take a deep breath. She couldn't make her pronouns behave. "That's the job you see. Need them to carry cargo. Want to surprise them."

Badger opened his mouth. A scuffling noise beyond the camera's field of vision cut the thought off before he could fully form it. Scowling, looking very like his namesake, he glared at her. "You have the worst rutt'n timing, girl. Ya know that? Gonna owe me big for this." With that, he dropped a cloth over the cam and was gone, yelling for his lackeys to let the visitors in.

She could hear muffled voices through the darkened screen. Her mind froze. Those voices were beyond familiar. River clung to the armrests of the chair as she listened to the bickering that always started out a deal with Badger. Riddick came through the door to the bridge, rumbling deep in his chest. She drank in the calm that was his mind like a dying man who'd found life and safety. A large hand came down on her head. She tipped it back so that she could see his face. He was frowning, pushing questions at her. Mutely she shook her head, turning her attention back to the Cortex. ::Did not know. Was so focused on keeping sane, on the words she needed… Lost track of the crew.::

"Look, Reynolds," Badger had moved back in range of the mike. "Ya want a job, fine. Got a few. But none out in Red Sun. And 'specially none near the skyplex, ya hear?"

"Always work Badger, all over the 'Verse."

River started to shake.

"May be so, but I'm not interested in losing profits. But you go on to the skyplex Reynolds. An' if ya make it back, tell me how it looks like someone kicked ov'r an anthill in that part o' space. Be terribly interesting to see if you managed ta get yourself and your crew killed."

A mutter in the background. Jayne. River reached with her mind to find predictable thoughts. Needed work to keep the ship fueled to keep the hunt for the crazy girl goi'n. He didn't like the sound of the reports out of Red Sun, especially not the description of the big guy River'd been sighted with.

It was a relief to know that Jayne was still Jayne. Not much truly phased him. Not until it was his pigu or his cut of a job on the line.

"See," Badger said. "At least one o' ya has some sense."

A click: a gun cocking. A sliding ratchet: Zoe's Mare's Leg. There was an answering chorus of similar noises as the Badger's men drew their own weapons. He must have waved them off, though, because there weren't any shots fired.

"Now you listen here," Captain Daddy snapped. She knew that tone. It was the tone that he only used right before doing something truly mule-headed. "You're alive right now cause the 'Tross likes you. Myself, think'n it's more'n proof something ain't right in her, but we all got our quirks."

The cloth on the cam shifted as something, probably Badger, got shoved across the desk. River dove out of the chair and around, bulling into Riddick in her haste to get out of sight. She hunched over, panting and trying to pull her mind together as Riddick laid an arm over her shoulder and turned her to face him. He was cool to her touch. The jaguar informed her that she was burning up, and not in a good way. Her heart was racing. She smelled of apprehension and mint through Riddick's senses. Breathing deep of leather and steel and spices, she focused her attention back on the Cortex.

"Now," her Captain said. "We're gonna make a run out ta Red Sun. You got work for us when we come back this way, fine. But you'd best stay out of my way otherwise, or I don't care how many guns you got, I'll blow this place to kingdom come." She could feel the resolve in his mind, the resignation in Zoe's and Jayne's anticipation of finally getting to place a few explosives in this hole and hitting the detonator.

Badger was muttering, incomprehensible bits of Mandarin and English mixing in new and interesting ways. Another clatter. A peek around the chair showed River that the Cortex screen on the Persephone end had landed on the floor. "Whatever you say, Reynolds," Badger said. "Make that run. But I'm sitting pretty on a milk run worth a seven'y -five thousand, platinum." River closed her eyes and grumbled inside her head. "Was going to offer it ta you, seeing as it's about this time a' year ya make that trip out ta Blue Sun."

River bit her lip to keep from cursing out loud as Riddick pushed curiosity in her direction. She shook her head at him, then winced as she heard the guns come out of the holsters again and the minds of her crew screaming bloody murder. Riddick wove a hand through her hair and growled quietly in response. She leaned her forehead against his chest so she could feel it in her bones.

On Persephone, the Captain kept yelling at Badger. Jayne grumbled about the potential loss of work, and Zoe was living up to her private nickname of Stone Woman With A Heart. River focused on breathing, on keeping herself from being swallowed in their minds as Badger haggled and cajoled them into coming back to Persephone to take the job.

Suspicion fired like hand grenades in her captain's mind, and Zoe's too. But it was the biggest job offer in a month and a half, and they needed the money. River wanted to shake Badger. And kiss him. But probably not hug him. He hadn't washed that suit in a week.

And then they were gone. She followed her crew out of the warren with her mind before pulling her attention back to the present. She could hear Badger coming back around his desk, throwing the men out, and picking up the Cortex screen. She nudged Riddick so he'd untangle his hand from her hair, then slipped back around to sit in the chair.

Badger's nose was bleeding and a large bruise forming along his jaw. "You owe me, girl," he snarled. "You owe me big. Your Captain is a ruttin' lunatic. You know that little girl? Ruttin' lunatic and you'd better pray he makes it back from whatever damn fool thing he's hell bent on this time." He grabbed for a cloth to hold to his nose, probably the one that had been over the screen, and River bit back a sigh.

Riddick wondered at it, and at the Captain's treatment of the man sitting in the steel cave several thousand miles away. She replied with a vision of a mother bear that thought her cubs were being taken. Riddick rumbled in amusement. ::All sorts of interesting.:: She knew he wasn't pleased by the analogy, but she was grateful he didn't push his status as the bear.

Badger's muffled curse broke into her thoughts. "Bloody hell girl! Who's that?"

Riddick laughed. River buried her face in her hands. ::Your ego is too big,:: she shot in his direction. He laughed harder.

On the screen, Badger turned pale again.

Sighing, River aimed a poke at the jaguar, then said "This is the hwoon dahn that found the Hound out in Reaver space." It was the truth, and she didn't plan to give him any more details. But she'd worried about the wrong thing. It didn't matter. The little man clamped a hand to his mouth, turned purple, and dropped back into his chair. She waited.

He brayed.

Riddick looked at her like she was some sort of bug. River had to swallow her own laugh as she patted the arm he'd laid over the back of the chair. ::He has won money today. His second-in-command made a bet with him years ago, when the girl first ran away.::

Riddick snorted and dropped his arm as he leaned forward to watch Badger. ::All the people in this system as crazy as these?::

She shrugged and grinned up at him. ::Captain Daddy has a talent.::

::I'll say:: He crossed his arms, propping a hip on the edge of the console, as he braced his feet against the base of the chair. His jaguar was amused. The man calculating the possible ways for this to get all sorts of fucked up. Riddick was working on a mental tally of weaponry available on the ship. ::This call gets done, need to find your crew again, take a read of them. Don't know that I like having them come to the ship to pick up Kyra. Neutral ground.::

River turned over his new ideas over in her head and nodded to herself. It was sound. If it went badly, their original plan of having the crew come to them would be a great hindrance in getting off planet without bloodshed or attention from the authorities.:: The girl knows a few places. One of them should work. Someplace the Badger man doesn't hold sway.:: Speaking of. She leaned forward and tapped a finger on the mike. "Uncle Baaaadger," she sang, putting as much honeyed warning into her voice as she could muster. "Making a fool of yourself. Done mocking me yet?"

Badge mopped at his eyes, chuckled a couple more times, and blew out a long breath. "Sorry luv, weren't mocking you. It's just…" he trailed off into laughter. River crossed her arms and fumed. This was getting old. Riddick agreed, but she was grateful for the fact he wasn't inclined to say much at the moment. "Sorry. Sorry." Badger coughed and then pulled his face into a mask of seriousness. His lips twitched, humor dancing in his eyes. "Scratch the money. For the look on Reynolds' face, I'll set this up without a cut."

River snorted. "Business is business. You'll get your piece o' the pie." She'd lapsed back into the Deyton accent, her voice full of scorn. It was always better to keep things on the level with Badger. "Thanks ever so for naming such a goushi price, by the way. T'was perfectly lovely."

"Now, River," Badger shook a finger at her, grinning. "Know you'll scrape it up somehow. An' they'll be expecting half up front."

River snorted, but it was Riddick who replied, leaning over to stare at the man on the other end of the Cortex. "It's settled then. We'll contact you planetside to set up a meet." He slapped the call switch off before Badger could reply. River slumped over like a puppet with its strings cut. The jaguar paced through Riddick's mental landscape, not happy with her changes in personality. The man hoped he wasn't going to have to kill a whole pile of people to make it off planet.

She relaxed into his hold as he picked her up and carried her out of the bridge. River held her mind away from his, searching instead for the river as it flowed. Absently, she noted that they'd made it to the galley, but kept her mind on the crew as Riddick set her on a chair. A thumb down her cheek, a hand turning her face upwards. The jaguar gave her charcoal and fire over apprehension and the faintest hint of apples and rain. Strangely enough, the lemon was gone. When had that happened?

Water into the kettle. The scrape of metal over a glass cooktop. He was going through cupboards as she found and skimmed the minds of her family. Apprehension twisted her heart as she looked for indicators of future behavior and dropped them into her calculations. But the sounds Riddick was making in the galley kept distracting her. Finally, grumbling to herself, she pulled her legs up to cross them, laid her hands on her knees, and dropped from her mind entirely. She felt his surprise as she pulled her consciousness from his, and then there was only the crew, the family.

Home.

~HHYFN~

Something roared. It sounded like a big cat. Not a lion, but a jungle cat. It sounded like a man, angry and… frightened? Her shoulders wouldn't move. Her skin was on fire. She was still seated, but she was surrounded by warm fur and spices and clarity of purpose that put ordinary men to shame. A jaguar paced in front of her, tail twitching and flopping in agitation. She stared. Gold eyes flashed as it stopped, looked at her, and roared again. The sound blasted her consciousness, twisting around her mind as the animal head butted her in the chest. She coughed, her air gone, thrashing in surprise. Shoulders free now, her legs pinioned, and big hands held her smaller fists, trapping them together. The weapon fought with just as much focus as the girl brought to bear in trying to still the erratic movements.

::River!::

Her head jerked back and impacted with bone. He barked in surprise. His hands clenched. She gasped as she felt the bones of her hands grind together. Whimpering, the girl curled in on herself as much as she could, trying to get her bearings, searching for the familiar. She found his mind, a refuge even though it roiled in confusion. The jaguar dropped out of its tree to land in front of her. She flung her arms around it, burying her face in its neck. The more cerebral man pinned the weapon back against the tree.

River realized she was on the floor, Riddick's arms and legs pinioning her from behind as the last of the twitches and involuntary flinging of hands worked their way out of her system.

"River!" His voice was as loud in her ear as in her mind. She winced away.

"Ow," she muttered, trying to rub her ear on her shoulder since she couldn't seem to get her hands free. His grip loosened, then vanished entirely as he shifted his hold to her ribcage and set her upright between his knees. She massaged her temples as she twisted to look at him. He'd taken his goggles off, worry in every line of his face. His mind assaulted her with images of her falling out of her chair and the sound of her heartbeat fading to near imperceptibility. Aftershocks of lemon mixed with leather and steel ripped up her nos. She realized the jaguar was giving her his scent, as it had been.

"Sorry," she whispered. "And thank you. The girl got lost. The pull of the river, of the turmoil of minds." She hung her head and turned away to stare at her feet, bracketed by his. "Thought meditation would help bring clarity. Always has in the past."

"I felt you go," he rumbled. ::In my head, you were gone.:: He turned her in his arms, or turned himself. She wasn't sure exactly. But she ended up facing him, and he had her chin between his hands. Gentle where moments ago they'd been anything but. She marveled at this man. This Furyan. Marveled at all the different things he could be while still being himself. The Riddick.

In a way, he'd been born for the role of Lord Marshall. If his people had lived, he could have, would have, ruled. She felt his amusement at the idea, and his rejection of it. Defiant was a very good word for him. He wanted no part of ruling anyone. She decided it was ok. If he weren't who he was, he'd have never have run, never have found her.

::Don't you forget it.:: He tipped her face up to kiss her, then leaned back and raised an eyebrow. "Now, what happened?"

River tilted her head and studied the planes and curves of his face as she tried to line her words up in logical order. The veins stood out on his head. He'd abandoned his goggles, leaving his eyes gleaming at her in the residual light, hard and angry. His nostrils flared as he pulled in her scent and analyzed it. She caught charcoal and fire in mass quantities.

Sighing, she twisted her hands in her lap. "Found the family. To find the plans. Couldn't concentrate, so dropped into true mediation." She shrugged. "When I follow the river, a part usually stays behind to monitor surroundings."

He frowned and ran an absentminded hand up her back. "You pulled out of my head completely. I couldn't feel you. And you've followed the river a couple times in the past few days."

River turned that over, looking for answers in the parts, since the whole was still a mystery to her. Finally, she leaned forward until she could rest her head under his chin. ::Apologies. It seems that the bonding has tied us together more deeply than could be anticipated.::

He barked a laugh and tightened his arms to fit her more closely against him. She reveled in the feel of his hands on her back, fingers tracing along her veins. "Anticipated," he chuckled. "Like any of this was fucking anticipated."

"You do not know if you are mad or grateful to Shirah for poking her nose into your life again." He stiffened, but she continued, weaving her mind into his, trying to push as much calm and acceptance as she could in his direction. "I have heard the dreams. They were loud." She shrugged and ran her hands down his chest to the snap on his pants. "I will always be grateful, if a bit jealous, that a dream woman pushed you to do what the river could not convince you of in the first place." Then she yanked on the snap, rolled her hips forward, and bulled her head into his chest until he tipped over backwards. Even as he was getting over his surprise at the maneuver, she proceeded to show him just how grateful she was. And how much more of his attention he should pay her instead of Shirah.

~HHYFN~

Riddick laughed when River growled and kicked at her shirt where it lay on the floor. Her bra lay at the opposite end of the room, one strap torn, the little metal hooks in the back bent completely out of alignment. He was anything but repentant about it.

The girl turned to bare her teeth at him before picking up the offending article of clothing and yanking it over her head. "I only have so many clothes, you know," she grumbled as her head popped out of the neckline. "And only two bras." She stomped over to pick up the bit of tan lace and cotton and shook it in his direction. "Tiny I may be but wobbling and jiggling like badly formed protein is not desirable, and bandages make a poor substitute to keep breasts in place."

Riddick snorted and turned back to the water kettle so she couldn't see the look on his face. The first half of the comment brought to mind all sorts of images, followed quickly by a new set that had more to do with this 'Verse's idea of shipside food and the pain in the ass of making it. Behind him, River kicked open the trash disposal and dumped her bra, snarling only half in jest. "I will find corsets. With metal stays. Then maybe you will not ruin them."

And there went the images again. Riddick growled, dropped the kettle, and spun to trap her in his arms. "I'll make you beg," he growled in her ear as he pinned her to the cupboards with his body. "You'll wish it was just cloth. Cause I can have all the patience in the world. One. Lace. At. A. Time." He dipped his head to grip her shoulder in his teeth, pressing just a little closer with his hips, as if she couldn't already feel him hard and ready.

She gasped, tipped her head backwards, and managed to look him in the eye. "We'll see," she bit out, before dropping to her knees and lurching sideways to get clear of him.

Riddick growled, but let her go and she laughed as she reached for the two silver bags on the counter labeled "Sesame Chicken". He was pleased to note her hands were shaky.

She gave him a mental poke in the head and pointed out that he was about to snap the dish in his hands to pieces.

The food was shit, but it was still food. He'd scrounged up a spoon somewhere, while she used the sticks to pick bits of what looked like sloppy orange dog food out of the bowl and stuff it in her mouth. He shook his head. First or Second Exodus, he really didn't care, but at least in cryo you didn't have to worry about food. The habits of the people of the First Exodus were downright weird.

::Chinese-American venture. Biggest economical bases. Took a good bit of Europe with them as well. Cultures merged, traditions of one became traditions of the other.:: River balanced a ball of rice on the end of one stick for a second before popping it in her mouth. ::Africa and the Middle East could not muster the funds to leave as quickly. Dissidents didn't want to ally themselves with the infidels when all of space beckoned. By the time they escaped,:: she shrugged and trailed off. ::Dig into our history and there are rumors of espionage groups stealing technology. Cryo research, different options for space drives. Must have succeeded.::

Riddick eyed her for a moment, then shrugged. He really didn't care one way or another. However humans ended up scattered over the stars, they were here now. He just hoped that his home systems were far enough away that even if Vaako thought about looking for his Lord Marshall, he'd write it off as a lost cause. The Armada was traveling in the complete opposite direction from the one Riddick had taken. If his research into the Necro's history was any good, they were still headed for the Underverse. He hoped.

River flicked a bit of rice at him and grinned when he growled at her. "Does it truly matter?" she asked. "The Riddick is within the bounds of the Alliance now. Wanted for killing at least two men. Desired for knowing the girl that nobody can keep pinned down. What hold does she have over him? Or him over her? Money? Threat of death?" Her grin broadened. Silk and vanilla rolled off her in waves as apples and rain twisted their way up his nose. "Stockholm syndrome?" She waited for him to quit laughing before continuing. "Doesn't matter. He has her. They want her back. He is either an obstacle or an asset. Better if he were dead. All who come in contact with her should die." She frowned. "Sonics will hurt, you know. Worse than most. Ears bleeding, mouth red. Fingernails loose."

Riddick grunted and poked at her with his spoon. "Ain't gonna happen. Get that shit out your head girl." And he pushed determined calm in her direction, backed by a promise to kill anyone who got in their way.

She sighed and propped her elbows on the table, letting him feel her acceptance. "Apologies. Still nervous about Persephone. Eavesdown docks more like Rim, but still very close to Core. Will have to walk soft."

"Thought you said I only looked like one thing."

She laughed and stood to take his empty bowl. "You do. In the main city, couldn't go five steps before Feds closed in. Hounds to the scent. At the docks," she shrugged and dumped the bowls in the sink before coming to perch on his knee and lean against his shoulder. "Will stand out less. The goggles will mark you, but everyone new to the docks gets marked for something or other."

Riddick ran over the options. Her skin was cool under his hand as he ran a thumb over her fingers. She was silent as well. He could feel her mind turning calculations over and over as her scent shifted from silk to mint to apprehension and back to apples and rain. "What will mark you?" he asked finally.

She shrugged. "Depends. Could go out as I did on the skyplex. Good excuse for a huge bodyguard. Or could go out in merc's clothes." She grinned at him. His jaguar rolled over. The lithe figure rubbing its stomach chuckled.

"Proper posture, proper attitude," River said, ignoring his amused prodding at her mind. "She passes for a gun hand sometimes."

"Don't do the personality transplants, do ya?" He couldn't help asking. He fucking hated it when she did that. She wasn't River then. She was alien, unknown, a threat to him in ways he couldn't describe. She stiffened against him, steel mixing with wet earth in the air. Her mind, still wrapped around his, hardened as she locked away her private thoughts

He snarled, angry at her and at himself for pushing her. But lies weren't his deal, and the truth was what it was. He shoved the thought at her, hoping to crack the barriers she was putting up. For a moment he thought that it hadn't worked; either she didn't hear him or that she was ignoring him completely. He removed his hands from her body so he wouldn't hurt her as he formed fists and squeezed.

Finally the girl sighed and relaxed against him again, wet earth winning out over steel, then cool water overriding even the earth.

"Peat," she muttered, and he narrowed his eyes at her. "You smell peat on the girl when she's sad." She twisted her fingers together, knotting and unknotting them in a rhythm he couldn't place. "She does not mean to disturb. Has discovered that acting inconspicuous requires certain… compromises of self. It is easier to channel another's personality than to try to hide her own." Serious dark eyes looked up into his. "Did not realize it was such a complete transformation."

"Your scent changes," he muttered as, setting his chin on her head. He sounded petulant, and he knew it. It didn't change the facts any.

She snorted, but said nothing for a very great while. He could feel her mind working; turning things over on her side, poking at this and that on his. It was odd, like someone stroking fur backwards along his spine. But the animal was unconcerned and the man merely curious as to what she was up to. Her heart rate dropped to match his, and for a moment he lived in the peace, the rightness of it. With their luck, they wouldn't get another moment of calm between Persephone and Haven, no matter how the meet went down.

When she spoke again, her voice was soft. Cool water filled the room and flooded his mind. Almost, he could feel himself floating in it, a lake too deep to see the bottom, a sky above so blue it was like someone had carved a bowl from gemstones and set it over him. He remembered colors, but this was the first time in years they had played across his brain as if he could actually see them.

"Think I may have a solution," River whispered, running fingers up his arms. "Anchor myself in you, line around a rock. Swim the river, taste the currents." She shifted slightly. His veins hummed. "Seek the crew and find the plans. Love and life and comfort found, or death and pain and running sounds."

Charcoal threaded through her, into him. For the first time since he'd smelled it on her, he remembered that it wasn't just evidence of a fire, but a purifier too. Pared down to the essence of thought, she spoke her own sort of clarity. It was left to the fools around her to realize that the language she used was that of the heart of hearts and not the cerebral mind.

He felt himself sway in the water's current, felt his heart slow and her breath deepen. Dropping his feet and anchoring them not only on the deck but also to the bottom of the lake, he buried his nose in her hair and wrapped his arms around her as the water closed over his head.

"Alright then River," he whispered against her neck. "Go hunting."

Gooseflesh erupted under his hands, but her scent and heart didn't change. He felt her, twisting through his mind like veins of fire under his skin. The jaguar rumbled as the waif wrapped herself around him and clung while the girl made of streaming bladed edges buried herself in the arms of the man.

He looked for the jaguar's tree and the darkened den beyond. Though he didn't know how, he tied himself in, far, far past the instinctual. Straight into the primitive fire at his core.

For the longest time, he knew only the current of voices around him.

Author's Note: Sooo… Badger! We did get to meet him. Sort of. I actually intended him to come off a lot more friendly to River and less… Badger, but he just wouldn't go along with it. This chapter gave me lots of pain. Dialogue between anyone not River and Riddick is a bitch to write. I think it's cause I'm trying to the animal, the weapon, the girl and the man interact with each other all at the same time as the people around them are speaking. Not to mention the smells and breath and heart rates. So many balls to juggle!

/Drumroll… They're not mine! Not! Lawyers, lawyers go away!

Translations:

Pi gu: butt/ass

Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh ur-tze: Stupid son of a drooling whore and a monkey

Goushi- dog shit

hwoon dahn: bastard