So long since the last update and you have my complete and humble apologies. I went up to my summer house last Saturday and stupidly enough, forgot my beloved laptop (and saving base for this story). But! Long free hours in which to complete the story are now here! Yay!

Thanks to these reviewers:

TotallyRiddickObsessed – yeah Rick's a downright bastard.

Snowgurl54 – yay!

tamekabu – perhaps, perhaps.

BabyKat – don't we all love a possessive Riddick?

FluidDegree – oooh! Intrigue, yes, perhaps. But one never knows…

And the long-awaited Chapter XXXVI

Chapter XXXVI:

With that crewmember in the med bay, Liege wondered if she could take out the entire crew by that method. Hoping she wouldn't, she hoped Jack would hurry her ass up. She was getting antsy with anticipation of a fight. Only two days were left and Liege almost began to doubt her rescue.

"Liege!" A voice cut through the air, making her head turn. Kell came towards her, limping a little, probably because of his slip on the beer cans.

She felt guilty. She had never felt guilty about beating guys up, even ones she had had a relationship with. So why did seeing Kell like this close her throat and pull on her heart?

"McKellern. Your room?" She asked, trying not to look so familiar with him in the public areas of the ship.

He nodded, gripping her shoulder and steering her towards his room. Liege sat on the bed as he turned and closed his door behind him, locking it. Looking at her, she felt the guilt slap her again and she looked away.

"Liege." His voice was softer now, a gentle Irish tiger purr. He approached her and sat on the bed next to her. His legs hanging over the edge with hers, knocking into hers as he positioned himself. "'m not angry now."

"Why did ye say it?" she asked, leaning her forehead on his shoulder.

"Yer da is more important. I wasn't lyin', Liege." He explained, lifting her head and looking deep into her eyes. "I know yer technically the new power, but ye da is still alive. Don't forget tha'."

"Just tryin' to prepare in case…" she trailed off, not protesting when Kell pulled her into his lap, kissing her neck. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to block the tears. Soon enough it was proven that Liege too was human.

"Ready?" Riddick asked, looking back on the small team that was assembled behind him.

Jack was at his side, Falc and Rick behind them. The rest of team was made up of the old loyal fighters of Liege and her family. Khan backed them up, ending the line. It was a group of ten people, all ready to fight to the death.

It was dusk when they set out from Imam's house. Using the back route, they avoided all main streets to the port. Quiet, the only noise heard was the shuffling of boots. Riddick held up his hand, signaling a stop.

Every one of his senses felt Jack who was standing next to him. He swore she wouldn't be out of his sight during the fight. No one would get near Jack, not if he could help it. She was armed with shivs, with an antique handgun strapped to her thigh.

Rick and Falc were alert with rifles and they too had smaller hand guns with them. Riddick was amused to see that the fighters for Liege were carrying a stick at most. They preferred to fight hand to hand and considering their brawn, they could do it no problem. Khan was carrying his scimitar, with a few other weapons hidden in his robe-like clothes.

The last rays of light gave them light to the paths that would be hard to see in the dark of night. When he felt that it was safe to move again he swiped his hand down and the pack was moving again.

Riddick smirked. That's exactly what it was. He and Jack were the alphas, Rick and Falc were the betas, the Irish fighters (or the Guinness boys, as Jack called them) made up the rest of the pack and Khan was the omega. Sure Khan wasn't low down and beaten up but he just sort of held support to the rest of the pack.

Before he realized what happened they were a mere twenty feet from the ship. Holding his hand up again, he didn't need to see that there was the practiced, well-oiled machine that stopped in an almost army-formation. Tapping Jack's bare hip with his shiv, she nodded in return.

Forming her lips into a strange shape she sounded a complex group of high-pitched whistles. High enough to be heard through the thick walls of any ship.

Liege jerked her head up from Kell's shoulder, swearing to herself she heard Jack's call. Breathing deeply she closed her eyes to listen harder and she heard it again, sharply through the metal walls.

"Kell, please listen." She stood and looked down at him, holding his hands tightly in hers. "My plan? Is about to happen. Please, stay near me and ye'll be safe. Give me a weapon."

"Liege…" he almost sounded like he was warning her. Either that or trying to treat her like she had just gone crazy and he wouldn't want to snap anything in her.

He was going to protest again and stood up to do so but was silenced by a deep kiss. His hands weaved into her hair, turned on by her growl and moan mix that vibrated through his body as she rubbed her body up against his.

Pulling away, Liege looked well-mussed and grinned cheekily, making Kell smile. Gripping onto one of her hands, he walked out of the room, making sure she was close behind.

Both felt the adrenaline pumping as they quietly ran down the hallways toward the artillery storage. Their boots made close to no noise as their wearers swiftly moved, passing by open doorways completely unnoticed. When they reached the door, Kell opened it with his key as if all were normal, not wanting to become too hyped.

Letting her in, she ordered a dim light on, just bright enough so she could see what sort of weapons she could use. Sure she had her knives, but she would need firearms of sorts to take out more people. Looking through she found the more antique section of the store of weapons.

"Kell, ye got to arm yerself." She hissed, not looking at him but still looking at the weapons. Finding a case of handguns, she opened and decided on carrying three handguns.

"What are ye usin'?" Kell asked, seeing as Liege checked for ammo then took extra, slipping it into the deep pockets of her pants, also strapping one within the waistband of her pants for easy access.

"Beretta 92 FS. Personal favourite." She replied, checking for all weapons. Finding they were strapped in she was relieved to see Kell holding a few weapons of his own.

"Are ye goin' to try to round up some old loyals?" Kell asked, taking in the vibes of absolute battle anticipation that flowed off of Liege.

"No, and ye won't either. Is there is way to get out of the ship 'sides the usual entrance exit?" Liege asked, ordering the lights off.

"Aye, through the hull, follow me." Kell walked forward, deeper into the storage room. He knew his way around by feel, so light wasn't needed.

Pushing boxes out of the way, he revealed a door that led into the bowels of the ship. Walking in, Liege was faced with a jungle of tubing and piping. There was dim light here, so Liege had no trouble following Kell's movement. Finally they landed on floor again and Kell waited for Liege to silently drop down from a pipe.

They walked forward and soon Kell and Liege were at the bottom edge of the ship. Feeling the wall, Kell found the crevices he was looking for and began to work.

Riddick wanted to go, but Jack held him back, telling him to wait. He didn't know why they should and he could tell that Rick and Falc were getting really impatient as well. Looking back, he was pleased to see all were in a readied stance. Glancing at Jack he wasn't surprised to see her determined glare at the hull of the ship.

Suddenly his sharp hearing picked up a scratching noise from the wall of the ship and he pulled Jack behind him, his hand tightly holding her arm. She knew she shouldn't get so close to him pre-fighting, but she rested her forehead on his back anyway. Her nerves were on edge and he was the only one who could calm her.

Swallowing, Jack peeked around the large muscled arm of her lover to see a square of metal was being dislodged from the wall of the ship. Curious she furrowed her eyebrows, wondering what the hell was happening.

It was soon removed and a very rugged looking Irishman dropped down, his eyes darting around the hanger. He obviously felt the presence of others but he couldn't find them. Standing, he smiled as a pair of legs hung from the dark square. Reaching up, his hands gripped the waist of someone and gently put them down the ground.

Jack almost yelled when she saw Liege's relieved face appear from the ship. She felt Riddick's large hand lock on her waist and tightly squeeze, telling her that she must be insane if she thought about moving. Responding by touch, Jack lightly placed her hand on his back, as if saying 'yeah, I'm hearing you'.

Liege's bright gold eyes were flashing with bronze as they glanced around the dock area, immediately resting on the area that Jack, Riddick and everyone else in their small army was hiding. Jack dug her nails into Riddick's back, now annoyed at being held back, but she bit back a growl when he tightened his grip, making it now painful.

She knew he thought it could be a trap for them, but they would have time before the main door of the ship could be properly let down and have O'Calhern's men come out. Mentally sighing, she decided to wait and let Liege come to them. She undoubtedly would, too.