Lifeline

Chapter 18

Chikage twisted the knob on the shower, stepping under the steaming spray with a contented sigh. The mud that had managed to cling to her skin despite the rain ran in a slow sludge down her skin toward the drain, along with the tension. She felt a rush of air as the door opened and smiled to herself, turning her face under the water as the shower door slid open quietly. His arms wound around her, and she leaned back against his chest, letting her head loll back against his shoulder.

"Water hog," he mumbled against the side of her neck, and she laughed as he picked her up, taking a few steps closer to the jet of water so both of them were under the massaging cascade. She wrapped her arms behind her, around his waist, and let him fully support her weight, her eyes closing as his hands softly caressed the skin of her sides.

"You know," she started softly, "I doubt this is a new thing." She felt him pull back to look at her, but she continued: "If she's made it this long, she's a strong girl." He sighed, dropping his forehead to rest on her shoulder. "It's not going to be a pretty sight, Riddick, but she'll be fine eventually." He nodded.

"I know she will."

"Especially knowing you're still out there and still care enough to do this for her," she added slowly. Another small nod. "She's a lucky girl." His head lifted, and her eyes opened as his lips pressed gently to her temple. "And one hell of a friend if she hasn't given you up after all this," she added. His cheek settled against the side of her head and he gave her a small squeeze.

"What do you say we take her with us?" he asked after a beat. She turned in his arms, staring up at him with wide eyes, a slightly concerned look crossing her features. He smiled, lifting a hand to cup her cheek as he leaned down to capture her lips in a slow kiss. She melted into him, arms clasping tightly around his neck as he left a light trail of kisses down to her shoulder. Goose bumps rose on her skin despite the heat of the water, and he lifted her, pressing her back against the wall, her legs winding around his waist as his lips returned to hers. He cleared the wet strands of hair clinging to the sides of her face, and her fingers dug into his shoulders as he teased her, finally pressing his hips forward in one long, smooth motion. Soft moans escaped her as his lips attacked her throat, teeth closing gently on the skin covering the pulsating vein running down the side of her neck as his pace increased. Both exploded at the same time, whimpers and grunts punctuating their releases. He stilled, feeling her tremble against him as he trapped her between his body and the wall. She still clung to him, even after he lowered her onto quivering legs, her breath coming in short, desperate pants.

"Can you hand me the shampoo?" she asked breathlessly, staring up at him from under heavy lidded eyes. He chuckled, reaching past her to hand her the bottle.

---

She woke with a start, suddenly realizing she was still alone in the bed. She sat up, smoothing the wild curls away from her face as she stood slowly, ruffling through a drawer to find a pair of sweats and a beater. He was still at the computer.

"Haven't cracked it?" He let out a frustrated sigh and flopped back against his chair. She laughed lightly and appeared at his side.

"A simple fucking task," he scolded himself. "Here you've done the mobiles and surveillance, and I can't even fucking crack a fucking floor plan." She shook her head, clicking her tongue at him as he wound an arm around her hips, pulling her against his side,

"Want me to try?" she asked sweetly. He glared at her.

"What, so you can do everything?" he pouted.

"I don't mind," she said with a modest shrug, sliding onto his lap and adjusting the keyboard. "Watch and learn." His arms wound around her waist again as he sat up, resting his chin on her shoulder as she slowly worked through the program. "It's only 256 bit encryption, Riddick," she chided mockingly, chuckling as he bit her shoulder lightly, his version of a comeback. He frowned as she pulled up another program, quickly typing in commands. "You didn't know this was there?" she asked, sounding almost as surprised as he was. He was quiet. "You didn't know you had a hacking program installed." Assumption this time, not a question. He shook his head, and she couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Hell, if I'd known I had that I'd have been done days ago," he growled.

"Yeah, well, given the circumstances I probably wouldn't have taken the time to explore my own system either," she said quietly.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

"Exactly what I said. It's not a big deal, Riddick. The only reason I know is from uploading a few programs onto the mobiles." He sighed.

"I'm sorry, Chi."

"Nothing to apologize for," she said, shrugging slightly. "Not a big deal. Once it's cracked, we'll save it to a remote server and then upload onto the mobiles. Won't take more than a few minutes." She typed some more on the keyboard, then sighed and leaned into him. "It's gonna take it a while. Why don't we get some sleep?" He nodded, and she stood, padding softly to the stairs. She glanced over her shoulder, checking to make sure he was coming, but he was just standing there, staring out the windshield. She sighed, closing the distance to grab his arm and drag him back to the bedroom.

---

Riddick watched as she uploaded the floor plan to the mobile, then copied it to the other mobile, glancing back down at the weapons he was loading every now and then. She set both mobiles on the navigator's chair and stooped to pick up a few guns, pulling back the slide and flipping the safety on before loading up. After securing her guns, she strapped her clip holders onto her ankles, and Riddick shook his head, a sly smile playing on his lips as his thoughts entered the gutter.

"I programmed the mobiles to respond to voice commands," she said, using her 'nothing but business' tone. The lewd thoughts ran from Riddick's mind, and he snapped back into his mission frame of mind. "Just have to record your voice and we'll be set." He nodded, and she collected a mobile and headset, gearing him up first. "Mine's already programmed," she said with a wink, clipping the headset's wire to the back of his collar. He waited as she secured the mobile to the back of his belt, out of his way, and plugged in the headset, then turned to wire her own mobile up. He heard a hum and then nothing as she powered his unit on, then gave him instructions to program his voice into the computer. He counted to eleven slowly, repeating each number, then said and repeated the other commands, the words 'camera', 'GPS', 'audio', 'map' and 'comm'. "Since I'm the only other mobile on your network, you just have to say 'comm' and I'll be on the other end," she instructed. He nodded. She paused, looking up at him pensively. "You're not used to this any more, are you?" An eyebrow twitched downward slightly, and she smiled. "You'll pick up right where you left off once we go in," she said confidently.

"Hope you're right," he said, half to himself. She pulled two vests out of a locker, tossing him one before putting on the other. Two more guns were strapped in, along with a few flash bangs and other explosives, and he opted just for more guns, a few of his favorite knifes, and extra clips. He didn't even want to ask where her extra magazines were kept. Finally, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, flipping the lever to lower the ship's hatch, and they walked out into the small field, the sky slowly darkening.

"Two hours to darkness," she said, starting off toward the brush. His arm darted out, his hand catching hers and whirling her back to face him. She couldn't read the expression on his face, but whatever the emotion was, it was the most intense thing she'd ever seen before. Her brows furled.

"Chi—" He stopped suddenly, glancing away and looking almost as though he felt guilty. She shook her head in confusion. "If anything happens to me—"

"Don't," she interjected quickly, cutting him off. "Emotions out, focus on." He nodded slowly, but she continued staring up at him. He was about to ask her if she was ready to go, but her lips slammed into his, one hand pressing against the back of his head, holding him in her fierce kiss. She pulled away as suddenly as she'd assailed him, heading once again for the forest. He shook his head, a chuckle vibrating low in his throat as he followed.

"What was that about emotions?" he asked, the teasing tone back in his voice.

"Shut the fuck up," she snapped, turning to grin at him though her words were harsh. He laughed, barely dodging a tree that jumped out in front of him. With every step forward, they grew more serious, and finally they approached the clearing into the meadow, the lights of the building glowing brightly. "You remember which camera is which?" she asked, but he'd already called up camera three, the same one she would have. She repeated the command, eyeing the view carefully.

"Think we can cut the power?" he asked quietly. She nodded, closing her eyes to think. "Listen to me, Chi." She opened her eyes. Must be serious, she thought. "Don't go loud unless you have to. If you've got to drop someone, do it quietly unless there's no alternative. I don't want them knowing we're here."

"So you're cutting the power," she said sarcastically. He sighed.

"Maybe they'll just think they blew a breaker for a while. Buy us some time."

"Hope you're right," she said with a shrug. "C'mon, I know where the breaker box is." He followed her around the building, still hiding in the safety of the forest, and watched her screw on a silencer and clip a laser sight onto one of her pistols, and his eyebrow rose, but he didn't question her. She was, after all, the sniper of the two. He followed her to a spot behind a clump of trees, and she glanced around the forest floor, finally crouching to pick up a thin but sturdy branch. His eyebrow rose, and she grinned. "Watch and learn," she said quietly. She ruffled through her backpack, then stood, replacing the pack before fiddling with a small gadget that slightly resembled a gun, but Riddick had never seen one before. She clipped on a small cylindrical piece of metal and turned it, and he heard the hiss of air, breaking into a grin. The branch was loaded into a barrel, and she clipped her scope onto the device and aimed. "Wish I could use the laser sight but it's too fucking foggy out here," she growled, steadying her arm against the trunk of a tree before firing. The branch was sent flying toward the breaker box, landing with a loud thud just as a gust of wind picked up. Sparks flew, and Riddick's grin widened.

"Nice." She cocked her head to the side as the lights flickered off, and flipped her night vision glasses onto her nose.

"Let's go," she said, nodding toward the building. He followed as they darted toward the closest wall, flattening against the concrete blocks as footsteps neared.

"Dude, Grainger's pissed," a guard muttered. "Probably blew a fuckin' breaker with all the god damn lights." Chikage stifled a snicker, and waited as they neared the box.

"Aw, fuck," the other guard sighed. They heard the click of a radio, and Chikage's eyes widened as she glanced at Riddick. His eyebrow rose, and she shook her head. She thought the outage would have taken out their radio systems, but evidently they were using battery powered units on a separate network, not going through the radio tower she'd sunk an electronics termyte into. She let out a quiet sigh. "Grainger, this is Frank. We got a problem. Wind kicked up a bit and lodged a branch in the circuit breaker. It'll take a while to fix it." They heard the radio crackle and then a very angry voice screaming obscenities along with a command to get started on the repairs. Riddick nodded to Chikage, and they silently moved in the other direction. Just around the next corner was a door both were hoping would be open. Riddick stole a quick glance, and shook his head. A radio crackled, and Chikage closed her eyes for a moment. This guard was, luckily for them, called to help the other two pry the branch from the breaker. Trouble was, he was heading right toward where Chikage and Riddick were pressed against the wall, hiding in a shadow.

A/N: Vocabulary note – electronics termyte: a surveillance dart that, when fired into a radio tower or other electronic system, works like a computer virus, infiltrating the system to allow the surveillance technician to eavesdrop on all communications running through the device invaded. Think of how termites work into wooden structures and imagine they could hack into wires and stuff and send the information to a receiver, like Chikage and Riddick's mobile computers. Aren't I clever? ;)