Chapter 5
Kat pulled her trench a little tighter around her shoulders, temporarily shutting out the wind and dust. Her face was still drawn down into a scowl, and her eyes darted around the deserted streets, thinking she saw something but it just turned out to be a cloud of dust. The wind wailed around the corners of the buildings, sending a shiver up her spine. Her breath left her as a gasp when an arm shot out from an alley, grasping her elbow and spinning her around, pressing her into the wall. She felt a surprisingly firm body press against her back, forcing her harder into the bricks.
"You know, I'm really fucking sick of being shoved into a wall, so if you wouldn't mind letting me go so I can kick your ass and let out some frustration, I'd really appreciate it," she snapped. A familiar chuckle rumbled in her ear, and the hairs on her skin stood up suddenly.
"I had a feeling you weren't as attached to him as you let on."
"Get the fuck off me, Riddick," she growled. To her surprise, he backed up a little, whipping her around to face him but still holding her, a little more loosely, to the wall now behind her. "What the hell do you want?"
"You've got a little too much class for him, you know that?" Riddick mused, brushing a wild hair from her forehead.
"What, and I'd do better with you? Fuck off," she retorted, narrowing her eyes up at him. "With the luck I've had with men in the past few days I'm seriously considering switching preferences," she added.
"Oh, don't do that," he said slowly. Her eyebrow rose. She figured he would have killed her by now.
"Like you'd have a fucking chance anyway," she said with a shrug. "You do know he followed me."
"Really." Riddick's smirk was nothing but cocky, and it only pissed her off even more.
"Yeah, really. I'd suggest hurrying up and telling me what the FUCK you want," she nearly yelled, struggling against him again.
"Don't make me hit you to shut you up," he warned, the menace returning to the surface. She swallowed thickly. "I wasn't planning on hurting you, but I will if you make me." She snickered, shaking her head. "Who all knows Toombs is hiding out here?"
"He's not exactly hiding out," she said slowly, brows furrowing. "Why?"
"Let me rephrase," Riddick said. "Who all knows he's a fuckin' merc?"
"Used to be, you mean?" she corrected. His brow rose, jaw tightening only slightly. "Just James. My bartender."
"Might want to talk to him then," Riddick said. "Don't know why I'm telling you this," he added, removing his hands from her arms and watching her hands immediately fly to where his had been, rubbing gingerly. "He ratted you out." Her eyes snapped to his, narrowing slightly.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Look," Riddick sighed, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. She noticed the movement, watching from the corner of her eye while keeping them trained on his face. A tiny smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he noticed. "Smart girl," he commented quietly.
"You were saying?"
"There's a lot of people out there that don't like him too much," Riddick started.
"People like you," Kat pointed out. Riddick tilted his head to the side to grant her point.
"Long as he stays off my ass I don't give a fuck what he does. I'm not gonna lie to you and say I'm glad he made it off that rock, but I'm not dumb enough to do anything about it right now." Her brow rose, and he let his unnatural grin slip into place. "Just thought maybe you'd want to know he's gonna have old buddies dropping in, and it most likely ain't gonna be a happy reunion, if you catch my drift."
"And why do you suddenly feel the need to help him?"
"I'm not," Riddick said simply with a small shrug. "I'm helping you."
"How do I know you're not the one that ratted him out?" she pressed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"First off, you really think I have contacts in the merc clique?" No response, so he clicked his tongue and shook his head. "And anyway, why would I want to bring a whole herd of them this way and risk getting my own ass caught?"
"What makes you think it was James?" she asked slowly, scolding herself for believing him. His head snapped toward the street, and he grasped her arm, spinning her around again, her back pressed against his chest, his to the wall, and he slid a little lower, hiding both of them behind a dumpster with her trapped between his legs. His hand was clamped over her mouth, and she fought at first, until she too heard the boots nearing them. Riddick's eyes narrowed as Toombs came into view, obviously looking for her. For a second, he thought about letting her go, but he wanted to play with Toombs a little more. A moment later, Toombs swore, continuing past the alley.
"Listen to me," he whispered, waiting until she nodded her head vigorously in his hand. He lowered his head to speak into her ear, her body tensing. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Chill the fuck out and listen." Another spastic nod. "You, Me, James, and Toombs are the only ones that know right?" A small nod. "It wasn't you, it wasn't me, I seriously doubt it was Toombs. So that means either it was James or someone else knows somehow." She sighed, closing her eyes. "Problem is, he's easily got a hundred pounds on you, and I know you're not gonna tell Toombs." Her fingers wound around his wrist, trying to pull his hand away from her mouth, but he wouldn't let her. He hissed when she sunk her teeth in, wrenching his hand off her face.
"Christ. Couldn't fucking breathe, prick," she snapped quietly, glancing back toward the street. He still held her back against him, and she turned her head toward him slightly. "What, you're volunteering to talk to James for me?" She felt him shrug and couldn't help but snicker. "Trust me, I can handle James."
"You mean with that gun you keep in the middle drawer behind the bar."
"No," she said flatly. "It's my problem. I'll take care of it." Suddenly, he let her go, and she fell forward, barely catching herself before grinding her nose into the pavement. She just stayed there on all fours for a moment, Riddick standing behind her. Her foot shot out, catching him in the knees and sweeping him off his feet. Big guys fell hard, and Riddick was no exception. She scrambled to her feet, taking off at a full out sprint. Her boots thundered down the pavement back toward the bar, and she forced them to move faster as another pair followed. Tears started streaming down her face, partly because of the fear and partly because of the sudden physical exertion. He tackled her from behind, his arms fastening around her waist and sending them both tumbling into a panting heap. Her eyes were scrunched shut to keep out the dust they'd kicked up, and she felt him straddle her hips, clutching her face in his hands. Blindly, she punched at him, smacking at his arms and trying to find his face so she could beat on him.
"Kat, look at me." The voice finally cut through her desperate whimpers, and her eyes popped open, flailing arms halting mid-strike. "What the hell happened to you?" Desperately, she wrapped her arms around his neck, clutching to him tightly. He stood slowly, pulling her up with him. "Talk to me."
"Riddick…" she stammered. "Alley. Said James ratted us out."
"What?!"
"Mercs coming for you," she whispered, trembling against him. "It was James, Toombs. We have to do something." He forced her away from him, holding her at arms' length by her upper arms, and she winced, his fingers digging into the same spots Riddick's fingers had left bruises. She tried to wriggle her arms free, but his hold was too strong.
"Riddick told you that?" She nodded, the tears springing free again. "And you believe him?"
"I don't know," she whispered, her lip trembling.
"Did he hurt you?"
"Couple of bruises, but I think he was just trying to keep me quiet and make me listen," she said, starting to calm down again. "Let go," she added weakly, attempting to pull her arms from his hands. Her eyes shifted over his shoulder, and she nodded. He spun around, and she stepped to his side, brow quirked.
"Amusing displays of affection," Riddick drawled, a smirk twisting his lips.
"Get the fuck away from us," Toombs growled, reaching for the pistol he'd tucked into the back waistband of his pants, but he felt Kat slide it out, holding it loosely at her side. He glanced at her quickly, but turned his attention back to the threat standing before them.
"You can't stick around, you realize that," Riddick stated, brushing dust from his shoulder. "And you can't leave James alive."
"How do you know all this shit?" Toombs demanded, his hand sliding down Kat's arm toward the gun, but she took a step sideways out of his reach.
"Observation," he said with a shrug. "Short version. James has a thing for Kat. Probably since the day he found out you were dead. You turn up alive and set up shop with her, he gets pissed and wants revenge." Kat's eyes narrowed.
"And you give a shit because…?" she asked
"Well," he said slowly, that smirk returning as his eyes shifted to hers. "I can't stay here now, and if I let you all stay, I can't steal you from him," he said, nodding toward Toombs.
"Enough," Kat snapped. "We don't need you Riddick. He's a big enough liability," she said, nodding her head toward Toombs, who took a breath to interject, but her glare silenced him. "I've already lost my bar and the life I've built here. I don't need a tag along." Riddick held up his hands, taking a step back.
"Fine," he said slowly. "You're on your own." Both Kat and Toombs watched as he turned and walked away, disappearing in the shadows. She turned back to Toombs and stared at him for a moment, shaking her head. He sighed, watching her for a moment before following back to the apartment.
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"So what's the plan?" he asked quietly, lowering himself to the couch with a quiet groan. She didn't pause, walking straight from the front door into the bedroom, rifling through her closet. He shook his head, standing and leaning against the doorframe.
"I don't know," she muttered, shaking her head. "We can't stay here though, that's for sure." She tossed a duffle bag onto the bed and started ripping her clothes from their hangers, tossing them in a pile next to the bag. "And we can't wait. The longer we stay, the more pissed off I'll get at James for this. And the more I'll think Riddick's right about not being able to leave him alive."
"Kat…"
"I think we should empty the safe, trash the place, and get the fuck out of here. Dump your ship off somewhere and get another one. Fuck trading it. They'll still be able to track us. Head someplace they won't look for us. Lupus Three, maybe."
"We can't go near the Lupus system, Kat. They'll recognize me no matter what." She sighed, turning from the closet to start folding her clothes. He reached out, settling a hand between her shoulder blades, but she didn't stop packing. "We need to come up with something that'll work."
"We don't have the fucking time," she snapped, pausing only long enough to glower up at him. "Get your shit together. We'll figure something out once we're off planet." He nodded, going to the bureau where he kept the few things he'd collected since getting here. She left the room, and he heard the door open and shut as she went down to clean out the safe. When she came back, he'd started collecting their stuff from the bathroom, finding a backpack in her closet to put it in. She started going through the stuff on her desk, shredding papers and putting others into a manila envelope.
"What about your computer?" he asked quietly, dropping the backpack next to the duffel at the front door.
"I'm burning it," she responded, pulling a red disk from a hidden compartment and holding it between her teeth as she collected the other disks, dropping them into the envelope as well. He watched her, quickly gathering what she had to keep and trashing the rest before sliding the red disk into the drive and pulling up a program. His eyebrow rose as whatever was on that disk took effect, glitches appearing on the screen. She stood once she was sure it had worked and dropped the envelope into another duffel, grabbing a few things from the kitchen. Smoke started streaming from the computer.
"What was that?"
"Electronic bomb," she answered, tossing a box of MREs to him. "Burns out the whole system. Can't be restored without the key, which I have. Program's unique to my computer, so I'm safe." He nodded slowly, somewhat surprised to learn this about her. He'd had no idea she knew anything more about computers than basic stuff. Could come in handy, maybe. She pulled a chair out from the breakfast bar and sat it in the middle of the kitchen. "Go take a shower really quick," she said quickly.
"What?" he asked slowly. She sighed.
"You don't know anything about disappearing, do you?" His eyebrow rose. "You need a hair cut and so do I. We don't have enough time for this shit. I'll get the dye on mine while you're getting wet. It'll give it time to develop while I cut your hair, and you can shave while I'm rinsing and cutting mine." He shrugged, disappearing into the bathroom. She rubbed her forehead slowly, choking back the memories. With a shake of the head, she pushed the thoughts away and dug under the sink cabinet, pulling a bottle of hair dye out. The water was running when she entered the bathroom, quickly mixing the dye and smearing it all over her head.
"Shit, that stinks," he muttered from the shower. She chuckled, wiping the water the fumes prompted from her eyes.
"Hurry up," was all she said. He threw the curtain back, and she handed him a towel, grabbing the scissors and a comb as she left. She cut as quickly as she could while still keeping it decent looking, her scalp starting to tingle. He felt dumb just sitting there when time was so vital, but she'd assumed control and he'd let her call the shots for now. The clippers turned on with a quiet buzz, his curls disappearing into a medium-length buzz. She ran her fingers over his head a few times, smiling at the prickling feeling before patting him on the shoulder and going back to the bathroom.
He watched with interest as she bent over, rinsing the goo from her hair, ass sticking up in the air as she leaned over the side of the tub. The water ran purple, and he hoped like hell that wasn't the color she'd chosen. Once the water cleared, she squeezed the excess out and reached for him, opening and closing her hand until he gave her a towel. She rubbed her hair nearly dry and stood at the mirror, cutting her hair from just below her shoulder blades to ear length, leaving a chunk at the front on each side about an inch longer. In a bag, she gathered all the hair on the floor, both hers and his, the dye bottle, clippers, anything they'd used for their appearance changes. After tying it shut, she dropped it next to their bags at the door.
"How far to the hangar?" she asked, reaching for her trench.
"Probably a half hour's walk." A quick nod, and she grabbed his wrist, walking to the bedroom and stepping into the closet. "What are you –?" She pushed aside a hidden doorway and handed him several guns.
"Nice," he commented quietly, checking out the array of weapons she had hidden.
"I can't take everything, unfortunately," she said quietly, gathering a small collection and putting them into a black leather pack. She tucked a snub nosed pistol into her boot, a knife in the other, and a semiautomatic pistol into the back of her pants, pulling her shirt down over it. Her trench had shoulder holsters built in, so she laid out two matching semiauto pistols on the bed next to her coat. "Pick out what you can carry that you know how to use well," she directed, shrugging her trench onto her shoulders. He nodded, and she secured the pistols into her holsters before sliding the pack on and adjusting the straps. "We'll figure everything out once we're in the air. I just want to get out of here before people start waking up." He nodded, following her to the door. They both carried a pack and a duffel, and she led the way down the stairs.