Notes: Okay I would have had this up MUCH sooner but the Document Manager
didn't work! Gar!
Chapter 4 - And then it's all gone
Glowering, Alex resisted the urge to hit that confident look off of his face.
"Too right. She's scared to death, damn it, and it is not acceptable for you to keep doing it without me knowing what the hell is going on!" She was slipping, not thinking of the game, only thinking of what on earth could have Jack scared so badly.
"Someone's after her," Riddick said simply.
She could have screamed at the man in frustration. "Of course," she said icily, "you care to elaborate on who?!" Her voice had a dangerous edge to it. If he was going to tempt her with mere snippets of the truth, she'd be better off finding it out herself. She drew in a deep breath, reminding herself she had virtually no hacking ability because so far she hadn't had time to learn, and for now, had to rely on Riddick's information.
"Look, is there someplace we can sit where nobody on the street will hear?" he questioned her, bringing her up short while she tried to think of someplace to go without realizing first that it would probably be something quite dangerous for no one on the Loku streets to hear.
Up until now, they had been walking down the street. Alex agreed with Riddick after she considered it a moment, thinking that it would be better if she could sit down, perhaps glare at Riddick until he told her. She spotted, out of the corner of her eye, the sign for Nightflower, a seedy Loku bar that passed as a restaurant during the day, but with patrons discreet enough to mind their own business. The owner said that this time of day they served "breakfast," but usually it wasn't much else than catering to the patrons still drunk from last night.
"There," she said, walking across the street and into the Nightflower, Riddick following with an amused look on his face. One part of Alex was screaming at her to watch her back, she'd let him walk behind her, but she was so angry and, though she hated to admit it, curious, she didn't care. Nodding at the bartender, she made her way to a booth in the back and sat down, watching Riddick slide into the seat across from her. She wanted to wipe that arrogant smirk off of his face, but instead briefly looked around the bar. They were two of eight people there, none of the others posing any threat. All were seated at the bar except Riddick and Alex.
The floor waitress, audibly sighing and standing up from where she had been chatting with the bartender, wandered over and tiredly asked them what they wanted. Her over made-up face, provocative dress, and eyes that said she had seen too much, made Alex cringe to see them this early in the morning. A district that never slept, she reminded herself. It gave Alex a surge of gratitude that she had been able to be hired as a bartender. Floor waiters never got any respect and had to run back and forth, especially on a busy night. No, she would never trade places with this woman.
"I'll have caff, please," Alex said, glancing at Riddick with a questioning look in her eyes, and he nodded. "Two, then" Alex finished looking at the table, smoothly pulling a thirty-cred slip out of her pocket. She looked up into the woman's eyes. "And nobody bothers us," she added, sliding the paper across the table discreetly. The woman's sharp eyes glanced down at the table and snatched up the note, stuffing it into her pocket. A wide, false smile broke out on her face. A nice profit for her. Loku residents kept to themselves, but if you wanted to keep them quiet, you had to pay. A lesson that Alex had learned by observation.
The woman walked away and quickly returned with two cups of caff. Alex actually preferred coffee, as she had for many years before the discovery of caff, but the warm, stimulating beverage was good enough. It grew much better than coffee did on any of the colonized planets, and so it had replaced coffee with its cinnamon-hazelnut taste. She took one sip, her eyes on Riddick the entire time, and put her cup down. She waited for Riddick to speak, inwardly fuming at his silence while he finished his entire cup, but maintaining a calm exterior. He seemed to be enjoying this, keeping her in suspense. It seemed again, surreal, that here she was, sitting down sharing a cup of caff with Riddick.
His eyes had been on her the entire time, watching her emotion come in waves. Surprisingly she had become incredibly angry when Jack had responded to his suggestions. Perhaps her attachment and desire to protect Jack would make it easier to accept what the kid would have to do when he gave her his information. It was also interesting to see any emotion whatsoever, for before this she had always been an ice-queen towards him. She wasn't like any other woman he had known. Women were playthings until proven otherwise, and none had proven otherwise until now. With the possible exception of Carolyn Fry. A momentary pang flashed through him at the memory. The one person who'd invited him to "rejoin the human race," and she had died for him. It was the one event which had given him pause, pause enough to consider doing just that. There were few people living, three in particular, whom he didn't mind as much as he used to. Of course, that didn't mean that he had to go soft, but there was a crack in his walls that hadn't been there before.
As he put down his empty mug, Riddick again examined at the woman seated across from him through the glasses he wore. Once, he had made the mistake of thinking of her as pliable and naïve. Once. Now, the standoffish behavior from when he had first seen her had evolved into street toughness. After seeing her handle herself with the six men in that alleyway, there was no way he would make that same mistake again. It was amusing at times, this game they played, but now was not the time for it.
Two months ago, while hacking into databases to create a new identity, he had stumbled onto the hitlist of some of the most elite mercs. Hacking came to him easily; before he was sent to the Slam, he had easily picked it up from the net labs in his city. He had changed identities many times, allowing him to smoothly travel between galaxies, until he was caught. But never had he come upon a list like this. And on that list he could not forget the scared, pale face of a child looking out at him from the screen.
Jack, or Natelle Jaqueline Tumioni, was the youngest child of one of the wealthiest and most influential shipping families to come out of old Earth. The Tumiones were also one of the dirtiest, with fingers in every pie, including corruption and takeover of planetary government and even some large-scale organized crime. The enormous family company had flourished in the years after the space-travel revolution, establishing a foothold on most of the major colonies. However, its influence with the government and its long-term initiation of one of its members to the Governing Council on Earth had caused any legislation to turn a blind eye to its activities. Besides, they were a necessary evil, with the fastest cargo ships and the most contracts with major tech distributors. Other than their influence, much of them remained a mystery. But one thing was for certain, it was a very large mistake to mess around with anything branded 'Tumioni.'
Jack, it seemed, had run away from her family fourteen months ago. The scared face was indeed younger but undeniably the same as the girl who had shared the harrowing experience on that dark planet. And, for some reason, they had recently escalated the search, that merc elite list was reserved for the most expensive and the most difficult to capture. A little more digging had unearthed the fact that she had blasted her way out of the family compound that was located on Vega 4, killing several guards and one family member in the process. More than that, he could not find. But judging from Jack's reaction when he started in on it, she must have been desperate to get out of there. There were rumors of all sorts surrounding the Tumioni's dealings with unwilling participants in their company.
Why he had come to warn them, he didn't know. That list had been posted quite recently, and judging from the pricetag on Jack, it wouldn't be long until the mercs found her. The Tumioni stronghold on Moltai was not a major one, but the combined efforts of mercs and guards would soon make the anonymity offered by the Loku district meaningless. Before his experience on that planet, he wouldn't have given two shits if the kid got found by mercs. But her soulful, scared eyes had touched him deeply, and he had felt a fierce desire to protect her from whatever fate she was running from. And so he had found Imam, peaceful on New Mecca, whose piercing gaze judged him as honest and told him where to find Jack and Alex.
Riddick leaned in slightly so that his mouth was below the line of sight over the booth. "She's a Tumioni," he said softly, judging rightly that it was all he would have to say.
Alex's eyes widened and she felt an unconscious sharp intake of breath, looking down at the table to hide the shock in her eyes. Tumioni. The name had discreetly occurred many times in the history volumes she had read, and her meager poking around on the net to find more about them had yielded little, but all she needed to know. If Jack was Tumioni, and was running, then there were not many places to hide if she was being looked for. And there would be no one to help them against the Tumioni.
She looked up at Riddick, who had intensely been studying her reaction. "Why now?" she started, then shook her head answered herself. "They're looking for her, aren't they?"
She had gotten to it quicker than he had thought she would. Then again, he knew that she was just as intelligent as she was, but usually too restrained to show it.
"I found her name on the elite merc list two months ago. They're good. Very good. They're probably no more than a few months from finding her," he finished. There. That was all he had to tell them. But why was it that he didn't just up and leave right now? It stood to reason that Alex and Jack would both leave together, but why did he want to make sure that they got away?
"You have to leave here," he told her, gazing at her intently. Did she realize how serious it was?
She certainly did. The tightening in her stomach became more intense with each passing moment as she realized how much their perceived safety was in jeopardy. And how little she would be able to do against the Tumioni except run and hide and hope they wouldn't find them. Yes, they would definitely have to leave here. As soon as possible. A brief twinge came to her. How easy it would be to just leave Jack on her own? Immediately as that thought surfaced, she squashed it down. Not only had she promised, but Jack was the one thing that had helped a part of her be happy. And obviously the mere idea of going back to what she had left had frightened Jack half to death. No, she would stay with Jack, and do everything she possibly could to protect her. Not just duty, but choice.
Alex suddenly became aware of the silence between herself and Riddick. The realization that they would have to leave had shocked the anger out of her, leaving only distress and no small part of fear. She almost started when she was jerked back to the reality of Riddick sitting across from her. Taking a deep breath, she pictured the flame in her mind, trying to burn it all away to leave nothing but cold reason.
When she looked back up at Riddick, her eyes were masked, unreadable. But behind them, her thoughts raced. It had been hard enough to decide where to go originally, but to find somewhere now that Tumioni would never find would be extremely difficult. Logic took over. It would require skills that she did not have, and did not think that Jack had, either. She almost allowed a considering look to pass over her face but stopped, so that Riddick would not see. He had the skill enough to find the list, and to find herself. And he could pilot. He could definitely make them disappear if he could make the infamous Richard B. Riddick disappear. But how much would it take? Alex mentally calculated how much she could spare, and still have enough to start over somewhere.
But she still had to do something, difficult for her to do. She had spent the last two years being independent, and the last year taking care of a kid essentially by herself. She did everything by herself, not really asking for help from anyone. Not wanting it. Yet here was help unasked, and with a great effort she made herself say the words.
"Thank you," she got out, almost a whisper. The look on Riddick's face was almost priceless. She raised an eyebrow at his surprise, and instantly when he noticed she had seen it, his face was wiped clean. Unreadable. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was annoyed that he had been so taken aback to see gratitude from her. The next part she was even more hesitant about. She had to be sure. "Why did you do this?"
For one split second, she saw a crack in Riddick's armor, something in his face and body that showed the struggle inside of him, and then it was gone. What was left was unreadable, and he paused for a long time before saying anything. But the second had been enough to see that even Riddick, big, badass Riddick, had more emotions than he let on, and had somehow grown attached to someone else besides himself.
"For the kid. I know what it's like to run from someone," he answered, his voice containing none of the arrogance, none of the sneer she had heard previously. It sounded like truth. And the connection she saw between Riddick and Jack, and from Jack to herself, made her trust that honesty. Both of them, Riddick and Alex, protected this skinny, scared, fourteen- year old kid who was running from something they didn't even know how terrible it was.
That surety, that beginning of trust, made it slightly easier to say the next part. She took a deep breath before beginning, then looked straight into his eyes, hoping he saw her as being honest as well. It wasn't so easy to admit that she was inadequate to protect Jack.
"I know Jack, and I, have to run. But I," she paused, swallowing, "I don't possess the knowledge to take us somewhere where the Tumioni won't find us." It stung, to confess that. But they needed him, dammit. At least she didn't have to sound so desperate. "And you do."
That was the second surprise of the evening for Riddick. Though he had remembered what he had overheard, when she told Imam the story she had no reason to make up, he had thought that she would try and cover for her deficiency, or at least find someone else besides him. Yet there was another part of him which was, shockingly, relieved that she had suggested he help, that he go along. The part of him, this alien feeling of wanting to protect another creature, would not be appeased by merely warning them. No, that part of him had been planning on going with all along. Damn it. Why did he ever allow himself to get mixed up in all of this!?
She took his silence as disgust, or considering how he could give them the slip. "I can pay you," she broke in, her mind's eye picturing a bag of money with wings on it, flying away. "Twenty thousand creds. That and any expenses." Okay, maybe that did sound a little desperate. It was a large sum, though probably, she was sure, not much when compared with criminal big business. She only hoped it would be enough to tempt him to consider it.
Last chance, Riddick, he thought to himself. Leave them both. But the decision had already been made, and if he made a little money off the deal, so be it. "Done," he found himself saying, but the inner struggle went on. He wasn't used to anything beyond thinking of himself, but everything had changed with one woman's sacrifice.
Alex was surprised he had acquiesced so quickly, but a brief thrill of victory ran through her. Okay, she thought to herself, I can do this. She looked down at her still-full cup of caff, and finished it, even though it was only lukewarm.
"We should probably get back," she said. "There's a lot to work out, we should leave as soon as possible." She glanced at him. It was interesting, striking a deal with a known killer. But now that there was a deal, she felt less afraid, for some reason. He grunted in reply, and slid out of the booth. Alex nodded across the room to the bartender and waitress as they left, signaling that they were finished here, and also a silent thanks for allowing no one to bother them. The rest of the clientele watched them leave, then turned to each other as soon as they were out the door. A dangerous man and woman, her looking even more so than him with all of those knives about. Interesting pair.
They still said nothing on the way back up to the apartment in the elevator. Any plans they made would have to include Jack, she was certain on that point. And she meant to find out exactly what in the Tumioni she was running from. The doors opened onto the tenth floor, but Alex suddenly got the feeling that something was wrong. Just a feeling, she thought, and shook it off, leading the way out of the elevator.
As she walked towards the apartment door, she suddenly felt as if she'd been hit against a brick wall. The door was open. Drawing closer, she saw that the frame had been gouged around the locks, as if someone had forced them open.
"No," she whispered. Her entire body tensed as she almost ran into the apartment, not a sound coming from inside.
"Jack?" she called. "Jack!!" again, more desperately. No answer. A terrible feeling began in her stomach and coursed throughout her entire body. She turned into Jack's room, not seeing Riddick coming into the apartment, his knife out, stalking into the living room, peering around to see if anyone was there.
Alex stood in Jack's small, empty room, her body shaking in shock. She and Riddick hadn't even been away for that long. The room was a shambles, the closet unit's doors pulled open and clothing strewn on the floor, the desk knocked down where it had been pushed in front of the adjoining room's door. Empty. Jack was gone. Gone. They had only been gone a little while. Only a little while. She felt like her heart had been ripped out of her body. Two tears formed in Alex's eyes, but before they fell, a cold, unrelentless anger took ahold of her. And one realization. Only two people knew where she was, and only Imam was trustworthy.
Riddick. That son of a bitch.
She grit her teeth, feeling nothing but the anger, her eyes chips of ice, and turned to walk out the door. As she spun she flicked out the small knife from her wrist sheath. The bastard. She walked out of Jack's room, and seeing Riddick in one corner of the living room, his back towards her as he put away his knife while looking out the window, she moved towards him.
"YOU!" she got out, her voice shaking with fury. He spun just as she reached him and backed up in surprise as he saw a black-haired hellion advancing on him. His back hit the corner as, too startled to respond, he could do nothing as she darted in like a cobra to lay her knife against his throat, pressing it hard so that a drop of blood formed at its tip.
"I warned you," she hissed, "that I would kill you if you betrayed us."
Chapter 4 - And then it's all gone
Glowering, Alex resisted the urge to hit that confident look off of his face.
"Too right. She's scared to death, damn it, and it is not acceptable for you to keep doing it without me knowing what the hell is going on!" She was slipping, not thinking of the game, only thinking of what on earth could have Jack scared so badly.
"Someone's after her," Riddick said simply.
She could have screamed at the man in frustration. "Of course," she said icily, "you care to elaborate on who?!" Her voice had a dangerous edge to it. If he was going to tempt her with mere snippets of the truth, she'd be better off finding it out herself. She drew in a deep breath, reminding herself she had virtually no hacking ability because so far she hadn't had time to learn, and for now, had to rely on Riddick's information.
"Look, is there someplace we can sit where nobody on the street will hear?" he questioned her, bringing her up short while she tried to think of someplace to go without realizing first that it would probably be something quite dangerous for no one on the Loku streets to hear.
Up until now, they had been walking down the street. Alex agreed with Riddick after she considered it a moment, thinking that it would be better if she could sit down, perhaps glare at Riddick until he told her. She spotted, out of the corner of her eye, the sign for Nightflower, a seedy Loku bar that passed as a restaurant during the day, but with patrons discreet enough to mind their own business. The owner said that this time of day they served "breakfast," but usually it wasn't much else than catering to the patrons still drunk from last night.
"There," she said, walking across the street and into the Nightflower, Riddick following with an amused look on his face. One part of Alex was screaming at her to watch her back, she'd let him walk behind her, but she was so angry and, though she hated to admit it, curious, she didn't care. Nodding at the bartender, she made her way to a booth in the back and sat down, watching Riddick slide into the seat across from her. She wanted to wipe that arrogant smirk off of his face, but instead briefly looked around the bar. They were two of eight people there, none of the others posing any threat. All were seated at the bar except Riddick and Alex.
The floor waitress, audibly sighing and standing up from where she had been chatting with the bartender, wandered over and tiredly asked them what they wanted. Her over made-up face, provocative dress, and eyes that said she had seen too much, made Alex cringe to see them this early in the morning. A district that never slept, she reminded herself. It gave Alex a surge of gratitude that she had been able to be hired as a bartender. Floor waiters never got any respect and had to run back and forth, especially on a busy night. No, she would never trade places with this woman.
"I'll have caff, please," Alex said, glancing at Riddick with a questioning look in her eyes, and he nodded. "Two, then" Alex finished looking at the table, smoothly pulling a thirty-cred slip out of her pocket. She looked up into the woman's eyes. "And nobody bothers us," she added, sliding the paper across the table discreetly. The woman's sharp eyes glanced down at the table and snatched up the note, stuffing it into her pocket. A wide, false smile broke out on her face. A nice profit for her. Loku residents kept to themselves, but if you wanted to keep them quiet, you had to pay. A lesson that Alex had learned by observation.
The woman walked away and quickly returned with two cups of caff. Alex actually preferred coffee, as she had for many years before the discovery of caff, but the warm, stimulating beverage was good enough. It grew much better than coffee did on any of the colonized planets, and so it had replaced coffee with its cinnamon-hazelnut taste. She took one sip, her eyes on Riddick the entire time, and put her cup down. She waited for Riddick to speak, inwardly fuming at his silence while he finished his entire cup, but maintaining a calm exterior. He seemed to be enjoying this, keeping her in suspense. It seemed again, surreal, that here she was, sitting down sharing a cup of caff with Riddick.
His eyes had been on her the entire time, watching her emotion come in waves. Surprisingly she had become incredibly angry when Jack had responded to his suggestions. Perhaps her attachment and desire to protect Jack would make it easier to accept what the kid would have to do when he gave her his information. It was also interesting to see any emotion whatsoever, for before this she had always been an ice-queen towards him. She wasn't like any other woman he had known. Women were playthings until proven otherwise, and none had proven otherwise until now. With the possible exception of Carolyn Fry. A momentary pang flashed through him at the memory. The one person who'd invited him to "rejoin the human race," and she had died for him. It was the one event which had given him pause, pause enough to consider doing just that. There were few people living, three in particular, whom he didn't mind as much as he used to. Of course, that didn't mean that he had to go soft, but there was a crack in his walls that hadn't been there before.
As he put down his empty mug, Riddick again examined at the woman seated across from him through the glasses he wore. Once, he had made the mistake of thinking of her as pliable and naïve. Once. Now, the standoffish behavior from when he had first seen her had evolved into street toughness. After seeing her handle herself with the six men in that alleyway, there was no way he would make that same mistake again. It was amusing at times, this game they played, but now was not the time for it.
Two months ago, while hacking into databases to create a new identity, he had stumbled onto the hitlist of some of the most elite mercs. Hacking came to him easily; before he was sent to the Slam, he had easily picked it up from the net labs in his city. He had changed identities many times, allowing him to smoothly travel between galaxies, until he was caught. But never had he come upon a list like this. And on that list he could not forget the scared, pale face of a child looking out at him from the screen.
Jack, or Natelle Jaqueline Tumioni, was the youngest child of one of the wealthiest and most influential shipping families to come out of old Earth. The Tumiones were also one of the dirtiest, with fingers in every pie, including corruption and takeover of planetary government and even some large-scale organized crime. The enormous family company had flourished in the years after the space-travel revolution, establishing a foothold on most of the major colonies. However, its influence with the government and its long-term initiation of one of its members to the Governing Council on Earth had caused any legislation to turn a blind eye to its activities. Besides, they were a necessary evil, with the fastest cargo ships and the most contracts with major tech distributors. Other than their influence, much of them remained a mystery. But one thing was for certain, it was a very large mistake to mess around with anything branded 'Tumioni.'
Jack, it seemed, had run away from her family fourteen months ago. The scared face was indeed younger but undeniably the same as the girl who had shared the harrowing experience on that dark planet. And, for some reason, they had recently escalated the search, that merc elite list was reserved for the most expensive and the most difficult to capture. A little more digging had unearthed the fact that she had blasted her way out of the family compound that was located on Vega 4, killing several guards and one family member in the process. More than that, he could not find. But judging from Jack's reaction when he started in on it, she must have been desperate to get out of there. There were rumors of all sorts surrounding the Tumioni's dealings with unwilling participants in their company.
Why he had come to warn them, he didn't know. That list had been posted quite recently, and judging from the pricetag on Jack, it wouldn't be long until the mercs found her. The Tumioni stronghold on Moltai was not a major one, but the combined efforts of mercs and guards would soon make the anonymity offered by the Loku district meaningless. Before his experience on that planet, he wouldn't have given two shits if the kid got found by mercs. But her soulful, scared eyes had touched him deeply, and he had felt a fierce desire to protect her from whatever fate she was running from. And so he had found Imam, peaceful on New Mecca, whose piercing gaze judged him as honest and told him where to find Jack and Alex.
Riddick leaned in slightly so that his mouth was below the line of sight over the booth. "She's a Tumioni," he said softly, judging rightly that it was all he would have to say.
Alex's eyes widened and she felt an unconscious sharp intake of breath, looking down at the table to hide the shock in her eyes. Tumioni. The name had discreetly occurred many times in the history volumes she had read, and her meager poking around on the net to find more about them had yielded little, but all she needed to know. If Jack was Tumioni, and was running, then there were not many places to hide if she was being looked for. And there would be no one to help them against the Tumioni.
She looked up at Riddick, who had intensely been studying her reaction. "Why now?" she started, then shook her head answered herself. "They're looking for her, aren't they?"
She had gotten to it quicker than he had thought she would. Then again, he knew that she was just as intelligent as she was, but usually too restrained to show it.
"I found her name on the elite merc list two months ago. They're good. Very good. They're probably no more than a few months from finding her," he finished. There. That was all he had to tell them. But why was it that he didn't just up and leave right now? It stood to reason that Alex and Jack would both leave together, but why did he want to make sure that they got away?
"You have to leave here," he told her, gazing at her intently. Did she realize how serious it was?
She certainly did. The tightening in her stomach became more intense with each passing moment as she realized how much their perceived safety was in jeopardy. And how little she would be able to do against the Tumioni except run and hide and hope they wouldn't find them. Yes, they would definitely have to leave here. As soon as possible. A brief twinge came to her. How easy it would be to just leave Jack on her own? Immediately as that thought surfaced, she squashed it down. Not only had she promised, but Jack was the one thing that had helped a part of her be happy. And obviously the mere idea of going back to what she had left had frightened Jack half to death. No, she would stay with Jack, and do everything she possibly could to protect her. Not just duty, but choice.
Alex suddenly became aware of the silence between herself and Riddick. The realization that they would have to leave had shocked the anger out of her, leaving only distress and no small part of fear. She almost started when she was jerked back to the reality of Riddick sitting across from her. Taking a deep breath, she pictured the flame in her mind, trying to burn it all away to leave nothing but cold reason.
When she looked back up at Riddick, her eyes were masked, unreadable. But behind them, her thoughts raced. It had been hard enough to decide where to go originally, but to find somewhere now that Tumioni would never find would be extremely difficult. Logic took over. It would require skills that she did not have, and did not think that Jack had, either. She almost allowed a considering look to pass over her face but stopped, so that Riddick would not see. He had the skill enough to find the list, and to find herself. And he could pilot. He could definitely make them disappear if he could make the infamous Richard B. Riddick disappear. But how much would it take? Alex mentally calculated how much she could spare, and still have enough to start over somewhere.
But she still had to do something, difficult for her to do. She had spent the last two years being independent, and the last year taking care of a kid essentially by herself. She did everything by herself, not really asking for help from anyone. Not wanting it. Yet here was help unasked, and with a great effort she made herself say the words.
"Thank you," she got out, almost a whisper. The look on Riddick's face was almost priceless. She raised an eyebrow at his surprise, and instantly when he noticed she had seen it, his face was wiped clean. Unreadable. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was annoyed that he had been so taken aback to see gratitude from her. The next part she was even more hesitant about. She had to be sure. "Why did you do this?"
For one split second, she saw a crack in Riddick's armor, something in his face and body that showed the struggle inside of him, and then it was gone. What was left was unreadable, and he paused for a long time before saying anything. But the second had been enough to see that even Riddick, big, badass Riddick, had more emotions than he let on, and had somehow grown attached to someone else besides himself.
"For the kid. I know what it's like to run from someone," he answered, his voice containing none of the arrogance, none of the sneer she had heard previously. It sounded like truth. And the connection she saw between Riddick and Jack, and from Jack to herself, made her trust that honesty. Both of them, Riddick and Alex, protected this skinny, scared, fourteen- year old kid who was running from something they didn't even know how terrible it was.
That surety, that beginning of trust, made it slightly easier to say the next part. She took a deep breath before beginning, then looked straight into his eyes, hoping he saw her as being honest as well. It wasn't so easy to admit that she was inadequate to protect Jack.
"I know Jack, and I, have to run. But I," she paused, swallowing, "I don't possess the knowledge to take us somewhere where the Tumioni won't find us." It stung, to confess that. But they needed him, dammit. At least she didn't have to sound so desperate. "And you do."
That was the second surprise of the evening for Riddick. Though he had remembered what he had overheard, when she told Imam the story she had no reason to make up, he had thought that she would try and cover for her deficiency, or at least find someone else besides him. Yet there was another part of him which was, shockingly, relieved that she had suggested he help, that he go along. The part of him, this alien feeling of wanting to protect another creature, would not be appeased by merely warning them. No, that part of him had been planning on going with all along. Damn it. Why did he ever allow himself to get mixed up in all of this!?
She took his silence as disgust, or considering how he could give them the slip. "I can pay you," she broke in, her mind's eye picturing a bag of money with wings on it, flying away. "Twenty thousand creds. That and any expenses." Okay, maybe that did sound a little desperate. It was a large sum, though probably, she was sure, not much when compared with criminal big business. She only hoped it would be enough to tempt him to consider it.
Last chance, Riddick, he thought to himself. Leave them both. But the decision had already been made, and if he made a little money off the deal, so be it. "Done," he found himself saying, but the inner struggle went on. He wasn't used to anything beyond thinking of himself, but everything had changed with one woman's sacrifice.
Alex was surprised he had acquiesced so quickly, but a brief thrill of victory ran through her. Okay, she thought to herself, I can do this. She looked down at her still-full cup of caff, and finished it, even though it was only lukewarm.
"We should probably get back," she said. "There's a lot to work out, we should leave as soon as possible." She glanced at him. It was interesting, striking a deal with a known killer. But now that there was a deal, she felt less afraid, for some reason. He grunted in reply, and slid out of the booth. Alex nodded across the room to the bartender and waitress as they left, signaling that they were finished here, and also a silent thanks for allowing no one to bother them. The rest of the clientele watched them leave, then turned to each other as soon as they were out the door. A dangerous man and woman, her looking even more so than him with all of those knives about. Interesting pair.
They still said nothing on the way back up to the apartment in the elevator. Any plans they made would have to include Jack, she was certain on that point. And she meant to find out exactly what in the Tumioni she was running from. The doors opened onto the tenth floor, but Alex suddenly got the feeling that something was wrong. Just a feeling, she thought, and shook it off, leading the way out of the elevator.
As she walked towards the apartment door, she suddenly felt as if she'd been hit against a brick wall. The door was open. Drawing closer, she saw that the frame had been gouged around the locks, as if someone had forced them open.
"No," she whispered. Her entire body tensed as she almost ran into the apartment, not a sound coming from inside.
"Jack?" she called. "Jack!!" again, more desperately. No answer. A terrible feeling began in her stomach and coursed throughout her entire body. She turned into Jack's room, not seeing Riddick coming into the apartment, his knife out, stalking into the living room, peering around to see if anyone was there.
Alex stood in Jack's small, empty room, her body shaking in shock. She and Riddick hadn't even been away for that long. The room was a shambles, the closet unit's doors pulled open and clothing strewn on the floor, the desk knocked down where it had been pushed in front of the adjoining room's door. Empty. Jack was gone. Gone. They had only been gone a little while. Only a little while. She felt like her heart had been ripped out of her body. Two tears formed in Alex's eyes, but before they fell, a cold, unrelentless anger took ahold of her. And one realization. Only two people knew where she was, and only Imam was trustworthy.
Riddick. That son of a bitch.
She grit her teeth, feeling nothing but the anger, her eyes chips of ice, and turned to walk out the door. As she spun she flicked out the small knife from her wrist sheath. The bastard. She walked out of Jack's room, and seeing Riddick in one corner of the living room, his back towards her as he put away his knife while looking out the window, she moved towards him.
"YOU!" she got out, her voice shaking with fury. He spun just as she reached him and backed up in surprise as he saw a black-haired hellion advancing on him. His back hit the corner as, too startled to respond, he could do nothing as she darted in like a cobra to lay her knife against his throat, pressing it hard so that a drop of blood formed at its tip.
"I warned you," she hissed, "that I would kill you if you betrayed us."