Author's Note: I do not own Riddick, more's the pity, however I do promise to return him. At some point in the undisclosed future. With no damages sustained in the time I had him, and his charming personality intact. I did not have any hand in the creation of Pitch Black. I did however create Spook, and the other characters not seen in Pitch Black.

The glowing hues shown by the shine were fading, washing out a little as the gasping face so close to Spook's lost it's colour. She stared down into the startled eyes, already misting, with mild curiosity and something akin to tenderness. her mouth was set in a hard line but her eyes glistened with a brimming sadness. The dying Psi gasped.

"'There are no facts, only interpretations.' You interpreted your data to mean that I would come easily, or fall beneath your mind. I told you, you would not take him, and I will never be shut away in the dark again." The shiv slid easily out of her, followed by another soft rush of blood to stain both pale hand and ragged shirt before Spook laid the woman upon the floor. Spook looked at the slender blade in her hand, watching the dark stain ooze sluggishly accross the gleaming surface. "You shouldn't have come. The Corps should have written us off long ago. Then you wouldn't have had to face me, and Kiran and you might both have survived. But you hunted a ghost. And now you are one."

A shadow fell over them, broad and cold. she turned her head to catch the cold stare of Riddick friom the corner of her gleaming eye. He stood a few feed behind her, head tilted to one side, dark-lensed goggles hiding his eyes, his face showing nothing, hands behind his back. She turned her attention back to the fallen woman again.

"She would have betrayed us." Her voice sounded so far away when she spoke; she almost didn't recognise it as her own. There was a sudden sharp coldness, a swift plunge of searing heat and icy fear in her back. She felt the large arm surround her, pulling her close. His breath lightly teased her cheek, sending her hair in a small wave against her temple.

" 'The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.' I saw the signal, rabbit. And there's a ship coming for me."

"Riddick-I-" She stared at him, turning slowly. She couldn't feel her legs, and she clung to his shoulders.

He pulled the curved blade of the shiv from her back. With his bloodied hand he brushed her hair away from her wide eyes.

"'People who comprehend a thing to its very depths rarely stay faithful to it forever. For they have brought its depths into the light of day: and in the depths there is always much that is unpleasant to see.'" He bent his head to touch his lips to hers.