Lifeline

Chapter 8

Dave knew something was up. Yanni was supposed to be on the roof, and was nowhere to be found. Andrew was supposed to be on the front perimeter, and Dave hadn't spotted him in the five minutes he'd been standing on the hill watching. Fuck. Even Julian was missing. He shook his head, finally deciding to head back to the house and find out what was up. The light was off as he slid the patio door open noiselessly, closing it behind him. He paused to let his eyes adjust to the darkness before venturing on toward Marcus' rooms to see if he'd split too. The door creaked as he pushed it open slowly, gun drawn. Four steps into the room, he heard a click and stopped, holding his hands up. The door shut behind him, and his gun was snatched from his fingers.

"What the fu—?" His sentence ended in a howl as his knee tore open, the muzzle flash glinting in the silver orbs floating behind Dave as he fell. He rolled around on the floor for a few moments, his movement halting as a pair of boots stopped just in front of him. His forehead was met with a barrel still warm as he lifted his head.

"I just have one question for you, Dave," Chikage growled. "Is Company paying you to sell Marcus out or are you just doing it out of the goodness of your heart?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he spat, wincing as he shifted positions, the pain coursing through him. "I didn't sell Marcus out." The surprised and angry expression on his face fell as Riddick clicked his tongue behind the man, but Dave didn't turn.

"My guess is, Company paid you for Amy and Marcus, but Riddick and I were just a bonus, right?" Marcus snickered. His eyes widened as she pulled back the hammer – an action completely unnecessary for a semi-automatic but she'd found it to be very convincing. "You know, I don't even need you to answer me, Dave. I've got my information. I just want to hear you admit you're a fucking snitch."

"You've completely lost your mind."

"Have I?" Her words made him glance up at her, and he instantly regretted his accusation. "I really don't think you're in much of a position to be psychoanalyzing me right now, David."

"You and Riddick both have nice prices on your heads," Dave said with a sly grin. "It's just too bad Yanni's got a slow trigger finger." Her eyebrow rose, and she glanced up at Riddick quickly, returning her eyes to her mark before he had a chance to do anything.

"Did it ever occur to you that you might not be able to pull this off?" she asked quietly. "I mean, two killers with Company bounties, plus my security crew—"

"Your security crew?" Dave spat. "You have no idea how easily it was to turn them, Chikage," he continued. "Turned out to be my security crew." She nodded slightly, and Dave only twitched as Riddick's shiv sank home, warm blood spreading slowly across the wooden floors.

"Makin' me do your dirty work," Riddick murmured under his breath. Her eyebrow rose as she fired two shots between Dave's eyes.

"I could never deny you the pleasure," she commented. He smiled before turning to rinse his hands and shiv off. She sighed, tucking her gun into the back of her pants, staring at Dave's lifeless eyes staring into nothingness for a while before following Riddick. "You know, if Dave really did turn the crew—" Riddick shook his head, now drying his knife on his pants.

"Dave's all talk." She shook her head.

"Something just doesn't feel right about this." No sooner than she'd gotten the words out, they both paused, hearing the helicopter blades churning closer and closer. Riddick swore, and started for the garage, Chikage not far behind. She grabbed his elbow before he rounded a corner, ducking into a room and kicking the door shut. He couldn't help but whistle, and she smiled. "Practical, Riddick. Grab a couple pistols and a few pocketfuls of clips."

"We could have been in the garage by now," he said slowly, taking the gun she held out to him.

"They were already over the property with the lines lowered," she said quietly, both glancing up at the stomps emanating from the floor above. "Didn't have a chance."

"Might want to call Marcus and let him know we'll be a little late," Riddick said, hoping for comic relief but only getting a quick glare. He watched, slightly amused and slightly aroused, as she strapped loading mechanisms onto her ankles, the device springing out a new clip when activated to make reloading easier. "Now that is probably the sexiest contraption I've ever seen," he commented.

"I always wanted the chance to break them in," she quipped with a grin, wiggling her eyebrows. He chuckled. "Flash bangs?"

"Fuck no," he shot back. Her eyebrow rose. "You really want to blind me too?"

"Sorry," she said quickly. "Forgot." He shook his head, tossing her the last pre-loaded clip in the drawer. "Don't forget to count," she advised, glancing at his gun.

"How many?"

"Fourteen in each," she answered, setting her guns beside her before tucking a metal curvy box into her back pocket.

"What the fuck is that?" he demanded. She glanced up at him, smirking.

"You'll see."

"I don't like surprises, Chi," he growled.

"Check the monitor. See how many we got outside the door," she said, quickly changing the subject. He tapped a few keys to switch cameras on two of the monitors.

"None yet, but we got a whole fuckin' army coming down the stairs." She nodded.

"Give me four of your mags. You lead the way to the garage and I'll cover the back." His eyebrow rose, but she shook her head, cutting off his protest. "You drive," she added, tossing him the keys as he fished in his pockets. He handed her the clips and went to the door, glancing over his shoulder once more at the monitor before opening it. She slipped out behind him, quickly sliding on a pair of green glasses. They whirred at the touch of a button, night vision slowly fading in.

As boots thumped down the hallway, both found it hard to keep track of the number of shots they fired, the sounds of all the guns firing interfering. She finished her clip much sooner than expected, ejecting the magazine as she crouched to reload.

"Cover me!" she yelled, waiting until Riddick ducked behind a corner to continue firing at the Company army barreling down the hallways before she crouched, hands trembling as the box was set and activated. She nodded at him, now counting rounds and seconds.

Riddick didn't bother with the garage door opener, instead throwing the car into reverse and plowing through the thin metal. Riddick flinched, and the car swerved as the explosion thundered through the neighborhood, the lights at each house flickering before staying off. Riddick squinted against the light, though the windows were tinted enough to cut most of the pain. It was more of an instinctual reaction for him now. He glanced at her, watching her fall back against the seat, leaning her head back as she sighed. She turned toward him, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Surprise."

---

Riddick switched the headlights off as they pulled into the long gravel driveway, glancing at Chikage as she reached up to turn the overhead light off as well to keep it from flickering on as they exited the vehicle. He stopped before the trees cleared, pulling the car off the road. Neither shut their door all the way, just slightly ajar as they crept toward the house. Chikage's brow furled as they came upon the front entrance, the door still slightly open. She pushed it open silently, clearing the room as she went. Riddick followed behind as she stole from room to room, keeping one eye on her and one on the hallway, just in case. Her gun fell to the floor with a clatter, and she dropped to her knees. Riddick glanced over her shoulder and swore. Both Marcus and Amy were lying in a pool of blood. Chikage couldn't think of anything to do other than scream an obscenity, and Riddick reached out, grasping her elbow tightly as he hauled her to her feet.

"Nothing we can do now, Chikage," he said gently. "They went fast. Let them go, and let's get the fuck outta here." She nodded, pausing long enough to pick up the gun she'd dropped, stealing a long glance over her shoulder as Riddick pulled her out of the room.

She beat on the dashboard with all she had once they pulled out onto the road, her knuckles splitting and bleeding at the impact, but she couldn't stop, and Riddick didn't try to make her to. He only drove silently to the spaceport where he'd stashed his cruiser.