Thanks to these reviewers:
TotallyRiddickObsessed – apologies for the confusion, clearly I didn't make it clear enough in the last chapter. Sorry about that, TRO, let me clear it up for you now. In the previous chapter Liege relayed to Kalekkit base that they had captured Riddick so they wouldn't suspect anything had gone wrong and still think O'Calhern was alive. That wasn't why Kell was killed, but it definitely adds to why Khan wasn't killed.
FluidDegree – Yes! They were lovers. There be a line about them a little farther down.
VainFirechild-EverSoVain – glad you like it! Thanks for the review!
Chapter XXXXII: Separation and Reunion
She wobbled a bit after un-strapping herself from the co-pilots chair. Jack knew Riddick was a little rough with take-offs, but in all honesty, she didn't think it was that bad. Giving a little moan of unhappiness at the sudden headache that brutally attacked her.
Riddick was still setting a course and stood just in time to steady Jack as she tipped over. Holding her close, he scooped her into his arms and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"Jackie, you don't have your space-bearings yet, do you?" He asked in a gentle voice, carrying her to their bedroom. On top of the dizziness, he knew she was really tired so rest would help.
"Ungh…" she replied, snuggling into his chest.
With a quiet chuckle, he balanced Jack and tapped the code into the door lock and it swished open, closing behind him. Keeping the lights off, he took off his goggles after he lay Jack on the bed. He knelt, removing his boots as well as hers and soon lay beside Jack, who immediately moved towards him, pillowing her head on his shoulder.
As she slept on in peace, he stared at the ceiling, memorizing every detail, trying to avoid thinking of his future. He was sure it involved Jack, but other then that it was a mass of confusion and he avoided it. Soon he fell into a light nap, reassured by Jack's heart beat, beating in unison with his.
"Rick, for chroist's sakes, don't ye 'ave any better table manners?" Liege snapped, staring down Rick who sat to the side of her. It was a small table, a perfect square in fact. Khan sat across from her and Falc and Rick sat on the sides. He had been out of the med bay for three weeks now and was soon finding that being confined to that bed was better than realizing he was confined to one ship for at least another month.
"Well, if you hadn't beaten me up, maybe I could get some basic motor skills down, like eating." He retaliated, angry at her sudden attack. She had been on his back since he was walking and kept him busy and working, no matter how menial the tasks. He was grateful for Falc's defense, which sometimes helped matters that involved Liege's nasty temper.
"Respect her." Khan stated, motioning from Rick to Liege with his fork. He was watching Liege always and kept her in line, although he almost always stood on her side during an argument, while Falc would side with Rick. This left a two versus two, making it nearly impossible to agree on anything. Yet, in those times, Liege would merely pull rank and the matter would be settled according to her wishes.
"Thank ye for makin' dinner, Falc, twas very kind." Liege acknowledged the usually silent member of the group. He dipped his head in acceptance and continued to eat, his manners perfect in every way.
"Right, well, I'm outta here." Rick said, pushing his chair back and standing, although weakly. Almost immediately Falc stood, waiting to be a human crutch, always waiting to help his friend. Liege took this in and hoped that the taller of the two wasn't falling for the Italian. It could make things messy once they got to Kalekkit.
Falc quickly took their plates to the sink and with approval from Liege, helped the unaware Rick out of the room. Khan sighed deeply once they were out of earshot.
"Why must you be so mean to Rick?" He questioned.
"Got to put 'im into place. Khan, there will be other, colder leaders when we get home 'n if Rick is parted from me, 'e will be chewed up, spit out 'n shit on. 'es got to learn some respect. Even then, if others see 'im disrespectin' me, they will undoubtedly beat 'im as well." She explained, ignoring the small streams of guilt that were steadily flooding her mind.
"But you can protect him from that."
"I can, but I won't be there all the time."
"True, true."
Liege had been ticking off the days and she decided that Rick would be strong enough to hand a full-throttle hyper-drive. In his weaker condition, he would have been disoriented for at least ten days afterwards and unable to keep any food down, which would be very bad for someone in an already weakened condition. Little did she realize that Falc wasn't one for flying already and Khan wasn't overly fond of any sort of hyper-drive. Personally, she lived for that pull, it was irresistible and more then once had Khan had to swat her hand away from the switchboard and the lever that operated that function.
"How long does it take to digest a meal like we just had?" Liege asked, not looking directly at Khan.
"I'm not sure…wait, at least wait a hour before you hit it. And you must tell Rick and Falc." He growled, not caring if she had thought he had stepped over the line of ordering authority figures.
"Khan, my friend, my advisor, my comrade, 'm not tha' cruel. Tis tempting, though." She mused, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
Khan sighed deeply, reminded of Liege's mother as her hair shone brightly in the light, like a continuous silken wave of fire that she was named after. Her mother had had lighter hair, giving the golden shine to the red hair she had inherited from her father. The golden eyes were completely her mothers, though. Khan tried to block the passionate nights in which he spent entwined with her mother in the massive bed that he was not supposed to be in. He growled out Liege's real name for a split-second, but even she caught it.
"What did ye say?" She immediately questioned. It was forbidden to speak her name anywhere except at home. Even then it could only be spoken to the most intimate family members, only the blood members.
"I…nothing, Liege. You should rest before we go into hyper-drive." He said, switching the subject.
"I know what I heard, Khan, 'n if I ever 'ear it again from yer mouth I will not stray from traditional punishments." She said, her voice icy and cold as she stood to walk to her bedroom. Only after he had heard the door to her private room whoosh close did he take a deep breath of air. He had barely realized he had said it, but as he dared to whisper it again, he felt relieved knowing she still believed it was important.
"Aidan…little child, you were so free." He barely whispered, looking into the distance.
Rian had risen early and was going over the plan with the two young boys who swore to fight for him. He was amused, yet pleased with their fierce loyalty and decided it must come from their father, who told Rian he had lost a brother because of O'Calhern.
As he half-listened to the boys recite the plan quietly two each other, he felt excitement as he thought of the moment he saw the life drain from O'Calhern's eyes. Little did he know, his dearest Aidan had already done so. Standing tall over the boys once more he nodded in confirmation at their mission. Soon they were walking down the road, as if nothing was unusual.
Turning on his heel, he went back to help work the farm with the couple. They insisted that he of such high blood so he should not help them, but he refused and set to work.
Months passed in this manner, confusion and turmoil wrecking the land due to rumors that O'Calhern wasn't returning and the old power was still lost. Rian wondered if these were true and if so, what was happened to Aidan. She said she was going to sort things out, but if she was she was certainly doing it in secret. He was still unable to overthrow the remaining forces of O'Calhern because if he was alive and returned, Rian would be in trouble. That and the capture of Riddick, which Rian began to think was just a lie fed to the underlings of O'Calhern's forces to raise morale. He would have heard if there had been such a capture from other contacts in other systems, but he hadn't had a chance to reach any of them as of yet.
Little did he know that only miles away was his own daughter trudging through the forest with her comrades, annoyed with the lack of human development.
"Chroist, we'll never find anythin'." She snarled, although inside she was secretly relieved that they hadn't been going in circles.
"Patience, sir." Khan reassured, walking behind her. Falc and Rick walked behind, alert to all surroundings. They had passed the time in the ship being trained to exhaustion daily by Liege and Khan. Their instructors battled each other often, maybe even three times a day just for basic exercise. When they landed, they had done so in the cover of night. Now they were walking through forests, eating little because they were quickly running out of food.
"Liege?" Falc's calm voice called from behind. Turning on her heel, she gave him a critical stare. "May we stop for the night?"
"Ye don't 'ave the authority to ask, then again, no one 'ere does. 'n no. We won't stop. 'm thinkin' of a plan." She replied, not nearly as snappish as she had been weeks ago.
They continued to walk, trying to make little noise as they avoided dry branches and dislodged rocks. Suddenly Liege came to a full halt, causing Khan to nearly walk into her back. Looking into the darkening sky, she let out a shrill cry, much like a hawk or eagle.
On a compound in the same area, a pack of maybe twenty dogs lifted their heads and perked their ears. A few stood, waiting for the sound again. Upon hearing it they all stood and completely unnoticed, slipped into the evening. Swiftly running through the forest, they were spurred on by the continued signals, picking up their pace until their red tongues were lolling in deep pants.
Khan turned, hearing the almost silent thudding of paw pads. His eyes widened when suddenly a large pack of hunting and defense dogs came upon them, immediately swarming around Liege. Laughing quietly, she sat down among them, scratching their ears and referring to each by name. He smirked, of course Liege would use her dogs to track down her father, how else would she have done so?
Rick and Falc were friendly to the animals, petting them when they came around to sniff and inspect them. There were wolf-like, large and sharp canines glinted in the moonlight, serving as a reminder to who was closer to the top of the food chain as of the present moment. Soon they were walking again, Liege gleefully following her dogs as they sniffed out her father. About two hours later about ten of them stopped and looked up at her, a few of them gently bumping their noses into her leg. Kneeling down she petted them and whispered praises, which they readily lapped up with wagging tails and quiet barks.
Standing, she turned to talk to them and kept her hands occupied by scratching the ears of two dogs who stood on both sides of her. "Alright, 'm goin' in to find me da, ye will stay 'ere with eighteen dogs 'm 'n takin' two. Settle down but don't get to relaxed." Liege ordered, taking off her pack and depositing it at the base of a nearby tree. Immediately all the dogs surrounded it, sniffing it and finally protecting it by sitting next to it.
"Caesar, Merlin, ye're with me." Liege said and two large scruffy dogs stood and walked to her, tails wagging. "Ah, two of me favourite Irish wolfhounds."
"Don't be long, Liege." Khan said, setting up a rough 'camp'.
"Don't tell me what to do 'n I'll be away as long as need be." She snapped, turning around and walking away from her group. The two huge dogs padded after her, licking her hands. In a few feet, she began to run and in seconds she was out of view.
Stopping near the edge of the forest, Liege caught her breath and knelt, petting her dogs who stood on either side of her, tongues lolling.
"Find da." She whispered, standing and walking as Caesar led the trio, sniffing the ground and edging closer to the edge of the forest.
Rian stood outside the farmhouse, breathing in the clean air and the fresh crisp wind of the evening. Leaning against a wooden pillar of the stable, he thought he heard something behind him. Turning he was faced with dimly light darkness for about fifteen feet then the looming forest. Not seeing anything, he turned back to face the town, wondering what it was that made him turn.
Liege had backed away into the forest, hoping she hadn't been scouted. If she could call back Caesar and Merlin then they could run, but whoever this person was could easily run after them. How could she call them back? Biting her lip in confusion she started to walk back, thinking her dogs would follow her back eventually.
Shaking his head he shoved himself off the wooden beam when he felt a wet nose nosing into his hand, licking it. Glancing down he almost gasped when he saw one of his daughter's dogs. They had gotten out? Escaped? Been thrown off the compound? Thoughts raced through his head as another wolfhound approached from the mists of the forest. He frowned, something wasn't right. They traveled in a pack, as Aidan had taught them, not in pairs and never alone.
One of them turned around and whined, as if calling for something or someone. Looking up from the dogs Rian thought he saw someone in the forest. Suddenly thoughts connected as he felt warmth from the leather collars. Someone had been holding the collars and the only person who could do that and not be bitten was Aidan. Turning to the forest he softly called the name.
Liege's head snapped back as she heard her name, instantly recognizing her father's voice.
"Da?" She called out, hearing him call her again.
Her breath caught in her throat, she tore blindly through the forest, leaping over fallen trees and barely making it across paths of broken branches. Breaking from the forest she was greeted with barks and the rejoiced voice of her father. Seeing him fully in the light she threw herself into his open arms, never feeling more relieved at human touch.
Rian gripped his daughter to him, kissing her head and blinked back tears of joy. Pulling back he looked down, meeting her teary gaze. She had grown so much, looking like the perfect mix between him and her mother.
"Aidan…" he whispered again, kissing her forehead.
"Da, yer alright." She said, holding his hand tightly much like she had done when she was a child, scared of something new.
"Course I am, lass. Course I am." He reassured her, setting his large hand on her shoulder, happy to see her safe.
"So much 'as happened, da." She whispered, tears choking her again as she remembered Kell's death. Pulling her into another hug, her father led her into the farmhouse, relieved to see that no one had woken at the dog's barking. Setting her at the table, he got her some bread and water, which she chewed silently, tears still tracking her face.
"Tell me." He gently requested, hearing a deep breath from her.
"Kell's dead, da. 'e died protectin' me. I killed O'Calhern, 'es long gone. 'm 'ere with Khan 'n two of me mates who signed up with me." She let out in one huge rush, not seeing the widening and narrowing of her father's eyes.
"Well, tis good O'Calhern's gone. Yer goin' to get promoted for tha', ye know." He said offhandedly, wondering what difference it would make. "Aidan," at this she looked directly at him, "'m truly sorry 'bout Kell, I remember the lad and 'e was always a good one 'n ye got to believe I was very 'appy when ye told me of yer relationship. Will ye pursue any others?"
She shook her head. If she was going to led an entire family in a universal business, there wasn't time for pursuing relationships. She had lost years of training for it and would have to make it up now, so that dampened her spirits even more. With Kell, he could have helped her and they could have worked together in their relationship.
"So be it. Khan is here?" he asked, with a sharp glare. Tonight had to be the night he revealed to Aidan exactly what had happened all those years ago. She nodded in reply, still sitting in shock of his death. "Where?"
In reply she whistled softly to Caesar and Merlin, who stood readily at her command. Padding over to her, she instructed them to retrieve her friends and the rest of the pack and bring them here. They slipped out the door into the night, leaving the father and daughter alone, deep in thought as the fire in the hearth illuminated the room.
