Riddick glanced around the general canteen surreptitiously, but didn't see her. He hadn't really expected to anyway, since she didn't show up on the nights when she was supposed to fight, but he'd almost been hoping. For one thing it was only so long before Lawson or Keyes or someone would notice the correlation, and then there would be questions. And then there would be messes, because she was one of the few people he knew who killed as easily as he did. Lawson was making a name for himself in the street fights, too, but he didn't kill people as often as she did, in the ring.
He'd asked her about that, one night in bed. Why she killed so many people, the third highest kill count of anyone in the gladiator-style fights. Her response had been almost chillingly logical. The more people she killed, the less they'd look at her as a woman when she was finally unmasked. They'd look at her as a killer. And maybe they'd leave her alone. He couldn't fault her logic, but there was something disturbing about those words coming from a delicately feminine face. Even to him.
It wasn't the only disturbing thing about her. After a couple weeks in the Slam he'd found her cutting her hair again, buzzing it back down to its previous peach-fuzz length. She shaved her head almost as close as he did, and her hair had been getting long enough to where she looked almost elfin with her naturally blonde hair and her pale blue eyes. He'd run his fingers over it a time or two, while she was sleeping, after sex. In the dark no one else was able to see the tiny gestures he made, inexplicable even to him. Her hair had been fine and soft under his fingertips. It felt almost like life on the outside, almost like life from years ago.
Funny how little things like that brought back so many memories.
She buzzed her hair. She kept her ears pierced with a pin sterilized by flame, but didn't wear earrings. Jewelry was available in the Slam, although it was usually made out of polished bits of metal and worn by the prettier showpieces paraded around the cells. It made sense for her not to wear earrings, but not to keep her ears pierced. She kept fit with fight, exercise, sex. She never lost the spring in her step or the lightness in her voice, and he didn't understand why.
Everyone else, even Doc, had succumbed to prison life. To the routine, day in and day out, same old nasty meals and brutal entertainment, half-lit cells and human refuse lying everywhere. Even Riddick, after so much time, found himself thinking more often like a prisoner and less like a fighter. He didn't know how much time had passed since his arrival, since hers. Time didn't mean anything down here once you got past hours and minutes.
Fantine had brought a spark of life, tiny as it was, to their little group. She managed to get smiles out of the Doc, real smiles and not the sardonic grins he used to give. She could get sane conversation out of Lawson and Keyes, and that was a minor miracle in and of itself; as much as he enjoyed their company neither of them were what one could call stable.
And thinking of whom, all three of them were conspicuously absent.
At least one of them was probably in the Cage arena, waiting with the rest of the early crowd for Fantine to arrive and the night's fight to begin. Actually the Doc was probably already there, since tonight's fight was supposed to be a really nasty one. The as-yet undefeated Fury (and he still had no idea how she'd pulled that one off) versus the man known with dubious affection as 'Scarface,' Jose Aquino. He'd seen both of them fight; the first time he'd seen Scarface fight he'd known it would be only a matter of time before he fought the Fury.
Aquino been in so many fights that his nose was permanently at almost right angles to the rest of his face. He'd lost the use of one eye due to a surprise shiv in the middle of a one-on-one, although it didn't seem to slow him down any. His whole upper body was a mass of muscle and scar tissue from bullets, laser strikes, shivs, and brands. He won most of his fights by sheer mean. Even Riddick didn't want to fight him, more out of a dislike of unnecessary harm to his person than out of any fear of death. He had no idea why Fantine had agreed.
Not that he had real worries that she'd be killed in the fight. She was too much of a survivor, like him, to die. But for the first time since she'd started fighting he wasn't sure who would come out on top, and if she lost the chances were good that she'd be unmasked. And then it would probably be death by rape and torture if he didn't get her out of there before Scarface, his so-called friends, or the angry crowd got to her.
It wasn't that he felt any sort of deep or lasting attachment to her. That was not only ridiculous, it was impractical in the Ursa Luna Slam. But apart from that and apart from their strange friendship and the good sex he felt a sort of proprietary (possessive) interest towards her. If anyone was going to get to kill her it would be him, and no one else. Period.
Riddick drained the miraculously cool water from his cup and stood up, pushing the thoughts of carnage from his mind. She wouldn't get killed, and she wouldn't lose. Fantine had never lost a fight yet; he was actually looking forward to their own fight with a great deal of enthusiasm. She had to survive till then, at least. And until then, he'd go and watch her kick the ever-living fuck out of the poor bastards who were dumb enough to take her on.
It wasn't like he had anything more entertaining to do, anyway.
Lawson, and Keyes were leaning over the railing already when Riddick walked up. He shouldered his way in to where they stood, shouting with all the rest of the inmates present. Fantine wasn't even out yet, but Scarface was making a big production of his entrance. Riddick's lip twisted in a silent, derisive snarl. Showboating like that was a waste of time and energy, especially since his opponent wasn't even in the ring yet. Idiot.
Fantine finally made her appearance. No swagger, not even a bounce to her step, just straight-up walking out and standing there. Her arms were loose at her sides, her hood pulled up and tight around her face. Not for the first time, he wondered how she saw with it around her head like that. Probably, he decided again, the same way she saw in the dark of the prison: with her other senses. Even without her bounce and flip to her step she looked as though she'd taken at least half the crowd. The applause for the Fury was no less than the applause for Scarface. He didn't seem to like that very much.
"Yah! Kill him!" Keyes shrieked, Lawson not much behind.
Their enthusiasm was infectious and the crowd was so big it was amazing that the three of them had actually carved out some breathing room for themselves. Riddick shouldered away some bystander who was trying to push him out of his viewing spot and glanced at either of his two companions.
"This is it? They haven't even started yet?"
"Are you kidding?" Lawson's eyes were gleaming almost as bright as Riddick's normal silver gaze. "With the reputation both of them have? Neither of them have gone down in a one-on-one. You saw what he did to me my first night here..." he gestured at Fantine. "It's going to be the fight of a lifetime."
"Someone's lifetime, anyway." Riddick wasn't sure whether or not he liked the news. With that big a crowd, that much bloodthirst in the arena, the chances were increasing every moment that one of the two wasn't going to walk out of the ring under their own power. That was, if both of them made it out alive. He had faith in Fantine's ability to fight, but he wasn't sure he had that much faith in her body to keep up the pace Scarface would set.
He didn't have time to worry about it anymore. The fight was on as Scarface abruptly stopped parading and charged Fantine, no artistry, straight out bull rush. Rather than simply dodge she jumped up and stretched out, kicking her shin straight into his throat. He went backwards but not down, not nearly as far as Riddick would have liked. It was most definitely on.
They wove in and out of each other, taking their hits where they could get them. Scarface wisely didn't try to rush her again, but he did try every other intimidation tactic in the book, and a few even Riddick hadn't thought of. Ten minutes later Fantine had taken a few hits and her face was a little bloody from a cut to the forehead where she'd been slammed into the fence. Her eyes were alert, though, and she was starting to bounce from foot to foot. Scarface... well, it was almost impossible to tell how far gone he was. Riddick saw his chest heaving more, but that was it.
"He's gonna kill him... he's gonna kill him." Keyes chanted gleefully. A shorter man with a receeding hairline, a quavery voice and a mouse-like tempermant, Joey Keyes could be surprisingly bloodthirsty at times. Usually, these were times involving his favorite ring fighters. Lawson and Riddick had met him over a cup of home-brew after one of Fantine's fights.
"Probably," Riddick said, grinning more than usual as Fantine landed several quick punches to the back of the kidneys. It was always good to see her kick some ass.
He caught the leaping axe-kick she delivered to Scarface's scarred face, but was distracted from the follow-up when Doc Wellers excused himself right into them. "Out of my way... get the hell out of my way... oof. Hi, Riddick, Lawson..."
Riddick's eyebrows shot up even as he returned his attention to the ring. If the Doc was here, it meant that at least one other person took this fight deathly seriously. Doc only showed up to the fights he thought there was a chance of her losing, after Riddick had told him about her deception. He hadn't even had to ask why the Doc was there the first time. It helped, having a pet medic who wouldn't leak out her secret to the rest of the prison world. Ever since then the Doc had been keeping a closer eye on her than usual.
"Shit..." said Doc Wellers in an uncharacteristic display of brevity and foulness. He sighed, wedging himself between Riddick and Lawson and settling in to watch the fight. "Too late... Riddick, can't you talk some sense into...?" He stopped barely in time. Riddick heard him mumbling something about self-preservation and stomped on the doctor's toes before anything else could come out. They all looked down into the ring; Fantine was making mincemeat out of Scareface.
"Doc, I really don't think you need to worry," Riddick said, his voice dangerously low. He didn't want Lawson or Keyes finding out; he liked them, but he didn't know them well enough to trust them. If it hadn't been Fantine's secret he wasn't sure he'd've trusted her with it either. And now he was wondering if he hadn't been wrong to trust the Doc. Then again, he hadn't had much of a choice, either. Necessity had driven them both to Doc Weller: Riddick for his eyes and Fantine for her secret.
"I need to ... er... talk to him... The Fury..." Doc improvised. "It's... oh dear."
"What?" Riddick turned his attention back to the ring. Lawson had already turned away from the doctor by this point, and Keyes was ignoring them altogether. All four men were now staring at Fantine, who had gotten unlucky or careless. She wasn't bouncing anymore, and actually looked like she might be favoring a leg. Riddick stopped cheering, although Keyes was yelling for her to finish him off.
"I told you..." the doctor warned, and Lawson glanced back at him.
"Told him what?"
"Never you mind."
"Shut up, both of you..." Riddick leaned further forward. "I think... I think he's in trouble..." He had to fight to remember to call the Fury by the masculine pronoun. Damn the doctor for slipping up, and especially now. Scarface was closing in, arms out, moving side to side and slowly advancing, crab like. He threw enough hooks and jabs to keep Fantine on her toes, keep her from launching any more flying kick attacks. Of all the fighters, he was the first one to disable one of her legs, preventing most of her devastating attacks. Lucky or smart, Riddick wondered. Possibly both.
Riddick had a bad feeling about the fight. "This isn't going to be..."
Scarface darted forward ripped the hood back and around to strangle the Fury at the exact second the words left Riddick's mouth. Blonde hair sprang out, sticking straight up between the static electricity and the shortness of the haircut. Blue eyes flashed angrily. The entire crowd went quiet.
"Hol-ee..."
"...shit..."
"Oh god..."
Riddick was silent.
In the one piece of luck they'd had all night, Scarface was actually struck dumb by the realization that his opponent was, in fact, a woman. He let go of the hood completely, freezing in the act of half-strangling the woman with her own fighting costume. Fantine seized the opportunity and raced out of his grip, bouncing off the opposite fence wall and using the momentum to land a solid kick to the man's stomach. The crowd stayed silent. She followed up with an old-fashioned knee to the groin, and slammed her joined fists into his face when he doubled over. Scarface fell over backwards and lay still. The crowd was so quiet Riddick thought he could hear his hair growing.
"What's going..." Lawson started to ask.
Fantine waited for a second, for Scarface to get up, for the crowd to make up their minds what had just happened, or maybe just to catch her breath. Then she ran out before anyone could stop her. Lawson and Keyes looked at each other, then at Riddick and Doc, who were both frowning grimly.
"Okay..." Lawson said in deathly quiet tones. "Either of you want to tell me what the hell is going on?"
The barely suppressed anger in Lawson's tone stung Riddick into action. Very few people in the stands had actually made it out of the arena yet; most of them were probably too shocked to do much more than gossip or scream. He pushed his way through the crowd, the other three close on his heels.
"Later..." he snapped. First he had to find her.
They followed him. He supposed he would have had to expect that. Running out of the arena like she had wasn't the best idea, at least not if she didn't have a pre-determined place to hide out until the craziness died down. Although that could take a while. He wasn't sure what the tenor of the audience was when he'd bolted out, for which he was cursing himself as he ran. He didn't know what they were likely to do.
There would be those, he knew, who would take her femininity as an immediate challenge. Stupid men who thought below the belt and couldn't stand having a woman around who had kicked their asses in the ring. They'd be going after her, for sure. There would also be the kind who would see her as a hefty notch on their wall, a prize that they could parade around, someone who would bring status to their little feudal prison society. There were probably also those, he realized then, who had put himself or Fantine on their enemies list and ...
"Riddick..."
The doctor's voice chased that last thought out of his head. Fuck. "What is it, Doc?" He was leading the way, since he was the only one who could see... really see... in the darkness. He had to squint a couple times as they hit the more lighted areas, but he had the feeling she wasn't going to go near there.
"Riddick, I think..."
They had to stop. The Doc, much less used to physical activity than the other three, was starting to lose breath. Riddick paced back and forth with quick, fluid steps. He was getting more and more impatient by the second.
"I think..." Doc Weller caught his breath finally. "I don't think she's in any danger. Not yet..."
Lawson and Keyes were still glaring at both of them. "Would one of you like to explain what the hell's going on here?" Lawson snapped. Riddick whirled on him fast enough to make the red-headed man take several steps back, nearly tripping over the Doc. "Riddick... look, I'm not ..." He wasn't sure what to say. The bigger man had looked as though he was about to kill Lawson for a second there.
"Pretty obvious, isn't it?" he growled finally, turning and staring down the hallway.
"Fantine..." the Doc started to say, and then skipped right past the repetition. "She didn't want anyone to know. I had to know, of course, because I treated her injuries."
"And Riddick?"
There was something in Lawson's voice, something tight and hot. Riddick paused in mid-pace, turned to look at him. The man's face had turned as red as his hair, his jaw and fists clenched. He looked as though he was about to deck someone. Jealous? Can't be. Then again it would explain a lot, including Riddick's instinctive desire to keep as much of the more sexual parts of his relationship with Fantine as private as possible. Lawson continued.
"How did Riddick get to be a part of this intimate little conspiracy..."
"You know, if you..."
"Riddick discovered her identity quite on his own," Doc Weller interceded before it could become an all-out fight. "The first day she arrived. When both of you first arrived, as I recall. Now if you don't mind, I think we'd better find her instead of fighting amongst ourselves, hmm?"
Neither Riddick nor Lawson needed any further urging. Keyes fell back with the Doc, looking from one fighter to the other, nervous. Riddick couldn't really blame him. If it came down to a fight between those himself and Lawson, Keyes would probably be the worst off, since the Doc invited or incited the respect that came with age and an elite profession. He was just a high-voiced little sneak. The only thing going for him was that he didn't seem to have the hots for Fantine, as half the prison probably did by now. The thought made Riddick tear through the halls even faster.
She wasn't in her pod. The Doc muttered something about guessing as much, but it just made Riddick madder. And more worried. They hadn't run across any mobs on their way here, nothing to indicate that she'd been captured and done to the way most of the women in the Slam were.
"Where else would she go?" Lawson yelled. Riddick could have killed him for that.
"Well, where else would she feel safe?"
Everyone stared at Keyes as though he'd lost his mind. Doc Weller was the first one to charge out this time. "Of course..." he muttered. Riddick and Lawson were on his heels. "Of course. How stupid..."
"Doc..."
"Just follow me..."
As winded as he'd been before, Doc Weller ran flat out now. Riddick had to work to keep up with him. The Doc was wheezing by the time they got to familiar territory, but it was all right. Riddick thought he knew what the older man had meant, now.
He forced himself to be nonchalant as they past the lights around the door of his cell block. Wouldn't do to have the guards knowing something was up. Lawson, Keyes, and the Doc stayed back towards the door for a few minutes; Doc Weller had to get his breath back, and even Lawson was intimidated by the strength of the glare Riddick threw his way. Be damned if either of them were going to see what his pod looked like. He still wasn't sure whether or not it had been a good idea to invite Fantine back the first time, but once it was done he hadn't thought twice about bringing her there a second, third, fifth time.
No extra guards, no extra people milling around in front. If she was there she'd made there unnoticed and unremarked. Not surprising; she was in and out of his pod all the time. But was she really there? Was the absence of riot and clamor an indication that she'd gotten out of the fighting arenas intact or...
There was a lump in the blankets. A human-shaped lump, curled up around itself. From the sound of her breathing she was asleep, or at least dozing, but the second he slid the door back even as quietly as he could the rhythm changed. Good for her. She'd need senses like that to stay alive now. Now, everything had changed.
"Hey..." he sat next to her on the bed, wondering what to do now.
She sat up. "Hey."
He'd asked her about that, one night in bed. Why she killed so many people, the third highest kill count of anyone in the gladiator-style fights. Her response had been almost chillingly logical. The more people she killed, the less they'd look at her as a woman when she was finally unmasked. They'd look at her as a killer. And maybe they'd leave her alone. He couldn't fault her logic, but there was something disturbing about those words coming from a delicately feminine face. Even to him.
It wasn't the only disturbing thing about her. After a couple weeks in the Slam he'd found her cutting her hair again, buzzing it back down to its previous peach-fuzz length. She shaved her head almost as close as he did, and her hair had been getting long enough to where she looked almost elfin with her naturally blonde hair and her pale blue eyes. He'd run his fingers over it a time or two, while she was sleeping, after sex. In the dark no one else was able to see the tiny gestures he made, inexplicable even to him. Her hair had been fine and soft under his fingertips. It felt almost like life on the outside, almost like life from years ago.
Funny how little things like that brought back so many memories.
She buzzed her hair. She kept her ears pierced with a pin sterilized by flame, but didn't wear earrings. Jewelry was available in the Slam, although it was usually made out of polished bits of metal and worn by the prettier showpieces paraded around the cells. It made sense for her not to wear earrings, but not to keep her ears pierced. She kept fit with fight, exercise, sex. She never lost the spring in her step or the lightness in her voice, and he didn't understand why.
Everyone else, even Doc, had succumbed to prison life. To the routine, day in and day out, same old nasty meals and brutal entertainment, half-lit cells and human refuse lying everywhere. Even Riddick, after so much time, found himself thinking more often like a prisoner and less like a fighter. He didn't know how much time had passed since his arrival, since hers. Time didn't mean anything down here once you got past hours and minutes.
Fantine had brought a spark of life, tiny as it was, to their little group. She managed to get smiles out of the Doc, real smiles and not the sardonic grins he used to give. She could get sane conversation out of Lawson and Keyes, and that was a minor miracle in and of itself; as much as he enjoyed their company neither of them were what one could call stable.
And thinking of whom, all three of them were conspicuously absent.
At least one of them was probably in the Cage arena, waiting with the rest of the early crowd for Fantine to arrive and the night's fight to begin. Actually the Doc was probably already there, since tonight's fight was supposed to be a really nasty one. The as-yet undefeated Fury (and he still had no idea how she'd pulled that one off) versus the man known with dubious affection as 'Scarface,' Jose Aquino. He'd seen both of them fight; the first time he'd seen Scarface fight he'd known it would be only a matter of time before he fought the Fury.
Aquino been in so many fights that his nose was permanently at almost right angles to the rest of his face. He'd lost the use of one eye due to a surprise shiv in the middle of a one-on-one, although it didn't seem to slow him down any. His whole upper body was a mass of muscle and scar tissue from bullets, laser strikes, shivs, and brands. He won most of his fights by sheer mean. Even Riddick didn't want to fight him, more out of a dislike of unnecessary harm to his person than out of any fear of death. He had no idea why Fantine had agreed.
Not that he had real worries that she'd be killed in the fight. She was too much of a survivor, like him, to die. But for the first time since she'd started fighting he wasn't sure who would come out on top, and if she lost the chances were good that she'd be unmasked. And then it would probably be death by rape and torture if he didn't get her out of there before Scarface, his so-called friends, or the angry crowd got to her.
It wasn't that he felt any sort of deep or lasting attachment to her. That was not only ridiculous, it was impractical in the Ursa Luna Slam. But apart from that and apart from their strange friendship and the good sex he felt a sort of proprietary (possessive) interest towards her. If anyone was going to get to kill her it would be him, and no one else. Period.
Riddick drained the miraculously cool water from his cup and stood up, pushing the thoughts of carnage from his mind. She wouldn't get killed, and she wouldn't lose. Fantine had never lost a fight yet; he was actually looking forward to their own fight with a great deal of enthusiasm. She had to survive till then, at least. And until then, he'd go and watch her kick the ever-living fuck out of the poor bastards who were dumb enough to take her on.
It wasn't like he had anything more entertaining to do, anyway.
Lawson, and Keyes were leaning over the railing already when Riddick walked up. He shouldered his way in to where they stood, shouting with all the rest of the inmates present. Fantine wasn't even out yet, but Scarface was making a big production of his entrance. Riddick's lip twisted in a silent, derisive snarl. Showboating like that was a waste of time and energy, especially since his opponent wasn't even in the ring yet. Idiot.
Fantine finally made her appearance. No swagger, not even a bounce to her step, just straight-up walking out and standing there. Her arms were loose at her sides, her hood pulled up and tight around her face. Not for the first time, he wondered how she saw with it around her head like that. Probably, he decided again, the same way she saw in the dark of the prison: with her other senses. Even without her bounce and flip to her step she looked as though she'd taken at least half the crowd. The applause for the Fury was no less than the applause for Scarface. He didn't seem to like that very much.
"Yah! Kill him!" Keyes shrieked, Lawson not much behind.
Their enthusiasm was infectious and the crowd was so big it was amazing that the three of them had actually carved out some breathing room for themselves. Riddick shouldered away some bystander who was trying to push him out of his viewing spot and glanced at either of his two companions.
"This is it? They haven't even started yet?"
"Are you kidding?" Lawson's eyes were gleaming almost as bright as Riddick's normal silver gaze. "With the reputation both of them have? Neither of them have gone down in a one-on-one. You saw what he did to me my first night here..." he gestured at Fantine. "It's going to be the fight of a lifetime."
"Someone's lifetime, anyway." Riddick wasn't sure whether or not he liked the news. With that big a crowd, that much bloodthirst in the arena, the chances were increasing every moment that one of the two wasn't going to walk out of the ring under their own power. That was, if both of them made it out alive. He had faith in Fantine's ability to fight, but he wasn't sure he had that much faith in her body to keep up the pace Scarface would set.
He didn't have time to worry about it anymore. The fight was on as Scarface abruptly stopped parading and charged Fantine, no artistry, straight out bull rush. Rather than simply dodge she jumped up and stretched out, kicking her shin straight into his throat. He went backwards but not down, not nearly as far as Riddick would have liked. It was most definitely on.
They wove in and out of each other, taking their hits where they could get them. Scarface wisely didn't try to rush her again, but he did try every other intimidation tactic in the book, and a few even Riddick hadn't thought of. Ten minutes later Fantine had taken a few hits and her face was a little bloody from a cut to the forehead where she'd been slammed into the fence. Her eyes were alert, though, and she was starting to bounce from foot to foot. Scarface... well, it was almost impossible to tell how far gone he was. Riddick saw his chest heaving more, but that was it.
"He's gonna kill him... he's gonna kill him." Keyes chanted gleefully. A shorter man with a receeding hairline, a quavery voice and a mouse-like tempermant, Joey Keyes could be surprisingly bloodthirsty at times. Usually, these were times involving his favorite ring fighters. Lawson and Riddick had met him over a cup of home-brew after one of Fantine's fights.
"Probably," Riddick said, grinning more than usual as Fantine landed several quick punches to the back of the kidneys. It was always good to see her kick some ass.
He caught the leaping axe-kick she delivered to Scarface's scarred face, but was distracted from the follow-up when Doc Wellers excused himself right into them. "Out of my way... get the hell out of my way... oof. Hi, Riddick, Lawson..."
Riddick's eyebrows shot up even as he returned his attention to the ring. If the Doc was here, it meant that at least one other person took this fight deathly seriously. Doc only showed up to the fights he thought there was a chance of her losing, after Riddick had told him about her deception. He hadn't even had to ask why the Doc was there the first time. It helped, having a pet medic who wouldn't leak out her secret to the rest of the prison world. Ever since then the Doc had been keeping a closer eye on her than usual.
"Shit..." said Doc Wellers in an uncharacteristic display of brevity and foulness. He sighed, wedging himself between Riddick and Lawson and settling in to watch the fight. "Too late... Riddick, can't you talk some sense into...?" He stopped barely in time. Riddick heard him mumbling something about self-preservation and stomped on the doctor's toes before anything else could come out. They all looked down into the ring; Fantine was making mincemeat out of Scareface.
"Doc, I really don't think you need to worry," Riddick said, his voice dangerously low. He didn't want Lawson or Keyes finding out; he liked them, but he didn't know them well enough to trust them. If it hadn't been Fantine's secret he wasn't sure he'd've trusted her with it either. And now he was wondering if he hadn't been wrong to trust the Doc. Then again, he hadn't had much of a choice, either. Necessity had driven them both to Doc Weller: Riddick for his eyes and Fantine for her secret.
"I need to ... er... talk to him... The Fury..." Doc improvised. "It's... oh dear."
"What?" Riddick turned his attention back to the ring. Lawson had already turned away from the doctor by this point, and Keyes was ignoring them altogether. All four men were now staring at Fantine, who had gotten unlucky or careless. She wasn't bouncing anymore, and actually looked like she might be favoring a leg. Riddick stopped cheering, although Keyes was yelling for her to finish him off.
"I told you..." the doctor warned, and Lawson glanced back at him.
"Told him what?"
"Never you mind."
"Shut up, both of you..." Riddick leaned further forward. "I think... I think he's in trouble..." He had to fight to remember to call the Fury by the masculine pronoun. Damn the doctor for slipping up, and especially now. Scarface was closing in, arms out, moving side to side and slowly advancing, crab like. He threw enough hooks and jabs to keep Fantine on her toes, keep her from launching any more flying kick attacks. Of all the fighters, he was the first one to disable one of her legs, preventing most of her devastating attacks. Lucky or smart, Riddick wondered. Possibly both.
Riddick had a bad feeling about the fight. "This isn't going to be..."
Scarface darted forward ripped the hood back and around to strangle the Fury at the exact second the words left Riddick's mouth. Blonde hair sprang out, sticking straight up between the static electricity and the shortness of the haircut. Blue eyes flashed angrily. The entire crowd went quiet.
"Hol-ee..."
"...shit..."
"Oh god..."
Riddick was silent.
In the one piece of luck they'd had all night, Scarface was actually struck dumb by the realization that his opponent was, in fact, a woman. He let go of the hood completely, freezing in the act of half-strangling the woman with her own fighting costume. Fantine seized the opportunity and raced out of his grip, bouncing off the opposite fence wall and using the momentum to land a solid kick to the man's stomach. The crowd stayed silent. She followed up with an old-fashioned knee to the groin, and slammed her joined fists into his face when he doubled over. Scarface fell over backwards and lay still. The crowd was so quiet Riddick thought he could hear his hair growing.
"What's going..." Lawson started to ask.
Fantine waited for a second, for Scarface to get up, for the crowd to make up their minds what had just happened, or maybe just to catch her breath. Then she ran out before anyone could stop her. Lawson and Keyes looked at each other, then at Riddick and Doc, who were both frowning grimly.
"Okay..." Lawson said in deathly quiet tones. "Either of you want to tell me what the hell is going on?"
The barely suppressed anger in Lawson's tone stung Riddick into action. Very few people in the stands had actually made it out of the arena yet; most of them were probably too shocked to do much more than gossip or scream. He pushed his way through the crowd, the other three close on his heels.
"Later..." he snapped. First he had to find her.
They followed him. He supposed he would have had to expect that. Running out of the arena like she had wasn't the best idea, at least not if she didn't have a pre-determined place to hide out until the craziness died down. Although that could take a while. He wasn't sure what the tenor of the audience was when he'd bolted out, for which he was cursing himself as he ran. He didn't know what they were likely to do.
There would be those, he knew, who would take her femininity as an immediate challenge. Stupid men who thought below the belt and couldn't stand having a woman around who had kicked their asses in the ring. They'd be going after her, for sure. There would also be the kind who would see her as a hefty notch on their wall, a prize that they could parade around, someone who would bring status to their little feudal prison society. There were probably also those, he realized then, who had put himself or Fantine on their enemies list and ...
"Riddick..."
The doctor's voice chased that last thought out of his head. Fuck. "What is it, Doc?" He was leading the way, since he was the only one who could see... really see... in the darkness. He had to squint a couple times as they hit the more lighted areas, but he had the feeling she wasn't going to go near there.
"Riddick, I think..."
They had to stop. The Doc, much less used to physical activity than the other three, was starting to lose breath. Riddick paced back and forth with quick, fluid steps. He was getting more and more impatient by the second.
"I think..." Doc Weller caught his breath finally. "I don't think she's in any danger. Not yet..."
Lawson and Keyes were still glaring at both of them. "Would one of you like to explain what the hell's going on here?" Lawson snapped. Riddick whirled on him fast enough to make the red-headed man take several steps back, nearly tripping over the Doc. "Riddick... look, I'm not ..." He wasn't sure what to say. The bigger man had looked as though he was about to kill Lawson for a second there.
"Pretty obvious, isn't it?" he growled finally, turning and staring down the hallway.
"Fantine..." the Doc started to say, and then skipped right past the repetition. "She didn't want anyone to know. I had to know, of course, because I treated her injuries."
"And Riddick?"
There was something in Lawson's voice, something tight and hot. Riddick paused in mid-pace, turned to look at him. The man's face had turned as red as his hair, his jaw and fists clenched. He looked as though he was about to deck someone. Jealous? Can't be. Then again it would explain a lot, including Riddick's instinctive desire to keep as much of the more sexual parts of his relationship with Fantine as private as possible. Lawson continued.
"How did Riddick get to be a part of this intimate little conspiracy..."
"You know, if you..."
"Riddick discovered her identity quite on his own," Doc Weller interceded before it could become an all-out fight. "The first day she arrived. When both of you first arrived, as I recall. Now if you don't mind, I think we'd better find her instead of fighting amongst ourselves, hmm?"
Neither Riddick nor Lawson needed any further urging. Keyes fell back with the Doc, looking from one fighter to the other, nervous. Riddick couldn't really blame him. If it came down to a fight between those himself and Lawson, Keyes would probably be the worst off, since the Doc invited or incited the respect that came with age and an elite profession. He was just a high-voiced little sneak. The only thing going for him was that he didn't seem to have the hots for Fantine, as half the prison probably did by now. The thought made Riddick tear through the halls even faster.
She wasn't in her pod. The Doc muttered something about guessing as much, but it just made Riddick madder. And more worried. They hadn't run across any mobs on their way here, nothing to indicate that she'd been captured and done to the way most of the women in the Slam were.
"Where else would she go?" Lawson yelled. Riddick could have killed him for that.
"Well, where else would she feel safe?"
Everyone stared at Keyes as though he'd lost his mind. Doc Weller was the first one to charge out this time. "Of course..." he muttered. Riddick and Lawson were on his heels. "Of course. How stupid..."
"Doc..."
"Just follow me..."
As winded as he'd been before, Doc Weller ran flat out now. Riddick had to work to keep up with him. The Doc was wheezing by the time they got to familiar territory, but it was all right. Riddick thought he knew what the older man had meant, now.
He forced himself to be nonchalant as they past the lights around the door of his cell block. Wouldn't do to have the guards knowing something was up. Lawson, Keyes, and the Doc stayed back towards the door for a few minutes; Doc Weller had to get his breath back, and even Lawson was intimidated by the strength of the glare Riddick threw his way. Be damned if either of them were going to see what his pod looked like. He still wasn't sure whether or not it had been a good idea to invite Fantine back the first time, but once it was done he hadn't thought twice about bringing her there a second, third, fifth time.
No extra guards, no extra people milling around in front. If she was there she'd made there unnoticed and unremarked. Not surprising; she was in and out of his pod all the time. But was she really there? Was the absence of riot and clamor an indication that she'd gotten out of the fighting arenas intact or...
There was a lump in the blankets. A human-shaped lump, curled up around itself. From the sound of her breathing she was asleep, or at least dozing, but the second he slid the door back even as quietly as he could the rhythm changed. Good for her. She'd need senses like that to stay alive now. Now, everything had changed.
"Hey..." he sat next to her on the bed, wondering what to do now.
She sat up. "Hey."