A/N: You all thought I was dead, didn't you? Well, happy to report alive and well! I'm sorry that I didn't get this out for a very long time. If I was in your shoes I definitely would have killed the writer before now, but don't take that as a suggestion. I've been getting my college life together, and writing two other fics besides this one. But now that I am a little more organized than before, I can continue with this one and keep going. I'm hoping to get another chapter after this one out almost immediately, trying to write them in the same day. So hold on for me, I'm going to try my best. Thanks again for reading and reviewing, it's really appreciated.

Chapter 5: Logan

Kyra felt as if the world decided to knock her a good one and then some. Every single joint and bone in her body ached horribly. She tried desperately to breath, but it felt like there was a huge weight placed on top of her chest. There was no way she could take a deep breath with the weight.

Suddenly she saw Riddick off in the distance. His back was to her, but she still knew it was him. His scent was in the air and there was always a sense of presence when he was around her. Besides, she could recognize his stance anywhere. Then he began to walk away from her. She couldn't move, and if she could it hurt like hell.

"Riddick!" she tried to turn him toward her, but something was keeping her hand down by her side. No matter how much she struggled she couldn't lift her hand and watched helplessly as Riddick began to shrink in the distance.

"I'm right here, kid," Kyra turned from the retreating figure and found the real Riddick holding her hand. She felt him squeeze a little and then relax, giving her the confirmation that he was a least a bit more real than the dot on the horizon line that was once her hero.

"Don't-" Kyra jumped into his arms which felt like Hell, "not again. Please... please stay with me. Don't run again. Stay, please. For once, keep a promise... keep the promise."

She felt like the little girl Jack that she had stated died years ago after Imam died. She was begging her long time, childhood hero to stay with her. To make him promise to stay with her. To make him keep the promise he made to her years before. That he would always be there to protect her. The long pause from him cut deeper than the other answer possibilities, even including him leaving her right then and there. She tried to keep a hold of him so he wouldn't run off. Even if he wanted to.

"I'll give you this, Kyra," and heard another thinking pause from him, "I will never be more than a few miles away. I won't promise that I will always be in your sight or always standing right by your side or always in hearing distance. But you will always get to me if you need to."

She didn't look up at him, but held him a little tighter. She relaxed a bit and suddenly let his hand from hers and touched his face. She then took a deep breath and looked up into his face and feel into his silver eyes. The glint of the silver shone with such intensity. It seemed forever until she could find her voice again.

"Thank you," she breathed and let her fall back to his chest.

"Sleep peacefully now, ki-" he seemed to stop short and Kyra felt some pressure on her forehead like someone had placed a hand lightly on it, "Night, Kyra."

9/9/9/9

Kyra felt the heat from the morning reach one side of her body and moved a bit to try and find a better position. Then it hit her, she could move a little better with a little less pain. She was healing better, or wasn't as badly injured as she thought she was. The pain from most of her injures were just a memory, for the most part. Even her eye that was nearly shut closed from the beatings seemed a little better. She felt as if she probably could even open it a little if she tried. Then another realization came upon her. There was someone in the bed with her. Holding her close to them.

She felt one of the person's hands move and dared to open her eyes. She opened her good eye completely and found that she could open her injured eye only about half of that. She found Riddick, the same man that she was dreaming about, looking at the palm of his right hand. He looked so confused as if he had lost the hand and then it magically grew back overnight. She grinned at the action and he caught the small smile as he glanced down from his palm.

He still seemed a little confused and looked her over from head to toe a couple of times. Her smile slowly faded into a look of wonder.

"And just what are you looking at?" she asked with a hoarse voice. Even though her body may have been healing a little faster then normal, her throat didn't feel a hole lot better than her eye.

"I was wondering the same thing," he rolled off the side of the bed and looked down at her and she slowly sat up, "How did you heal so fast?"

"How long have I been out?" she asked holding her head once she got her back against the headboard of the bed.

"About a day and a night, if that long," he said and looked back at his hand. It had something to do with her healing faster than normal, he knew it. He just didn't understand it.

"Well, that's long enough for someone to cause some problems within the system," Kyra slid one of her legs over the side of the bed and tried to apply pressure on her foot.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked turning his head quickly at her.

She looked up at him and put her other foot on the floor, testing how bad the pressure would b on her injures, "I feel as if I can walk. So, I'm going to try. You don't know how much damage could be done by some of these people. Toombs being one of them. I'm not going to let Hassan brave the discrepancies alone."

She leaned off the bed and began to wobble a little as she stood up. Amazingly she didn't feel as much pain as she did dizziness. Her legs were still a little weak a long with the rest of her body, but she managed to stand up and take a few steps before she leaned forward a little too much and fell toward the floor. Before she callapsed fully Riddick caught her from under her armpits and pulled her back up. She looked into his eyes and nodded.

"Thanks, Big Evil," she looked away and noticed that after a few minutes he didn't let go of her. She turned back to him again and saw that his eyebrows were furrowed in an expression that could be mistaken as worry, "What? You worried about me, Riddick?"

"That will be the day," he stood her back on her two feet and let her stabilize herself by using his arm as a balance bar of sort.

She slowly let go of his arm and headed toward the smaller room. She was going to change and go out. He knew it, but couldn't do anything to stop her. If she wanted to do something, it looked like nothing was going to stop her. Not even a near death beating. Hell knows if she could survive that and walk the next day, he wasn't going to get in her way to get dressed and go out to meet with the others. He finally found his goggles from where he had thrown them earlier and place them around his neck. Even though it was daytime, he wouldn't need to use them in the underground unless they had invented a super bright candle. After a few moments she stepped back out into their shared quarters with a black wife beater tank top, somewhat close to what Riddick himself wore and a pair of khaki pants. She was ready, even though she didn't have her weapon belt or vest on. At least she knew better than to load herself down with her normal heavy equipment.

"You ready now?" he asked with his arms folded over his chest by the door.

"You're not going to try and stop me?" she asked grabbing a small shiv and placing it on a spot on her hip. She turned to him, catching herself when she turned too fast.

"Would it help any?"

"Absolutely not," she answered and walked past him out the door. Yeah that was still the girl, now young woman, that he knew. Determined and never backing down in her opinions even if they were wrong. He shook his head and followed her closely down the hallway toward the main building to join the rest of the group.

As they neared the main structure they could both see the group gathered around the table looking over something on the surface. Kyra squinted her eyes at the sight and then at Riddick who just shrugged his shoulders with indifference. They approach the group and find that they were all pouring over a map of Necropolis. Kyra widened her eyes at the sight and took a big intake of air. Everybody looked up, surprised to see her walking among them.

"Kyra! I'm glad to see that you are awake," Hassan smiled at her, forgetting the reason why she took the intake of air, "How are you doing?"

"Better than that kind of beating would dish out to any normal human being," Logan commented and looked her over, "How did you heal so fast."

"Call it an unsolved mystery," Riddick said coming to the table.

"How did you guys get this map?" Kyra took an edge of the map and pulled it closer to her side of the table, "It's bear impossible to even see Necropolis and live to tell about it."

"Quicksilver got the chance," Toombs muttered and looked at Riddick through the top of his eyes.

"Don't start with me, Merc," Riddick growled in warning to him.

"It was found in one of the unused tunnels," Hassan reported and looked up at Kyra's face to find her swaying to one side, "You sure that you should out of bed. You do not look that well."

"I'm fine," Kyra stated and tried to right herself and overcompensated falling to her other side.

"Woah, kid," Riddick caught her again and pushed her toward Hassan, "Take it easy."

"I'm not a kid," she grumbled.

"I'll take her to give her some more herbs," Hassan said and put Kyra's arm around his shoulders toward the rooms.

"What did happen last night to make her heal that fast?" Nick asked amazed, "She is half way through recovery just after one night."

"I'm wondering that myself," Toombs mumbled and glared at Riddick.

"I'm going to take a short sleep. Didn't get to sleep that peacefully last night."

"What? The murder have a bad dream?" Toombs asked from the side of the room. Logan poked him in the side with her elbow and shook her head at him. Riddick rolled his silver eyes and walked back toward the room. Almost immediately after leaving the main room he heard Logan's boots walk briskly after him.

"I have to ask you something," she said trying to keep in stride with him as soon as she caught up.

"Is it another question about one of my victims? Because if it is, I'm really not in the mood for it," Riddick grumbled and stopped to look down at the young woman.

"For once, no," she said and looked up and down the halls, "How can you trust that she won't turn you in when this is all over?"

"What?"

"Kyra, how do you know that she won't turn you in and collect the money?"

Riddick looked at her with his silver eyes squinting in thought. Kyra may be stubborn and hard headed, but she knew better to even try and turn him in. Even if she was mad as hell at him she would know better than to try to pull a fast one on him and try to throw him back in the slam. He would smell her intentions a mile away, and would probably kill her for it. Or made sure she would never do it again. Besides this was Jack. A grown up version, but he still could feel and smell the same fifteen-year-old kid left on that crashed ship five years ago.

"For some strange reason... she trusts me," Riddick sighed and looked Logan in the eyes, "And that says a lot when the person you trust in a cold blooded killer. She's got the strength, smarts and the courage to do it no doubt, but she wouldn't."

"How can you be so sure? I mean, that is a big reward resting on your head."

"I've heard," he grumbled, "But you still don't understand, Logan. She and I... well the kid and I are almost connected. So far we've crossed paths twice. Both because of a space ship crash. She may be rough around the edges, but when she got her loyalty going, there is no way she's going to break it."

"Even of you wanted her to?"

"Yeah, I've already tried that and it didn't work."

"Or maybe it did and she is just pretending that it hadn't," she offered, "It could all be a ploy-"

"You trying to turn me against her or something?" Riddick asked a little more disgruntled than he was before.

"I'm just reviewing all the possibilities."

"Then that also leaves the big possibility that when this is all over Toombs is going to try and carry my ass back to the slam."

"Yeah, not to mention everyone else," she smiled and started to walk away.

He looked at her as she went down the halls. She was up to something other than trying to break his tie with Kyra. She was playing the worried civilian, yet she was also a killer just like him. Just like Kyra. He shook his head to clear it a little and then looked toward his room once again.

He walked in to find Kyra and Hassan talking to one another. Kyra was sitting on the bed with her legs swinging over the side and Hassan sitting in the chair next to the bed, examining her eye. Riddick saw that they hadn't noticed him yet and stayed just outside their line of sight. He started to dispute as to whether he should listen in or not. Then his mind began to cool down from the talk with Logan and function normally.

'Hell, what should I care if it is private or not. I'm a cold murderer! And I want to know what is going on around here,' he placed his head toward the door and tried to catch the conversation.

"Look Hassan, I don't know what happened. All of the sudden I woke up and I was feeling better. I thought that I was out for weeks with the beating I got."

"Maybe it was something that Mr. Riddick did."

"Riddick?" she laughed to herself a little, "I don't know if you've noticed or not Hassan, but Riddick is no doctor."

"But he is a friend. And some say a friend close at hand can make your soul as well as your body feel better and cleansed. Maybe Mr. Riddick is that friend to you."

"Yeah... a friend," Kyra breathed and watched as Riddick stepped into the room upon realizing that he wasn't going to get any information from the conversation.

"You're back early," Kyra commented as Hassan finished wrapping a new bandage around her arm.

"Logan got carried away," he offered and sat down on the other stool at the side of the room, "So what's the diagnosis, doc?"

"She will be fine. She just needs more rest," he nodded and began to leave the room, "Should I tell the others that you will be joining the meeting tonight, Kyra?"

"Yeah, tell them I'll be there and tell Logan that to start without me would be a huge mistake."

"I'll make sure I'll deliver it," he bowed slightly toward her and left the room.

"You have something against Logan?" Riddick inquired.

"You can say that," Kyra played with some of the new bandages and flexed her arm to see how they fit, "You can also call it a rivalry. One that she started, and one that probably will never stop."

"Sounds interesting."

"Yeah, I bet to you it does," she smirked in his direction and then both of them felt a jerk from the ground. She again fell toward him and landed right against his chest. He looked around the room and started toward the door.

"What the hell was that?"

"God, they're coming," Kyra said a little out of breath and lightly touched Riddick's arm so he wouldn't got that much farther, "We got to get out of here."

"What? Why-"

Before Riddick could reach the door it was blown open by an out side force and flown to the opposite side of the room. Riddick immediately put Kyra behind him as if on impulse to protect her and looked at the door and the doorway now completely open. On the side of the room he could see Hassan coughing and struggling to get up from the broken door. He must have been blown in with it. Hassan looked at the doorway and then at Riddick and Kyra.

"Run! Now! They are after Kyra!" he waved his arms at them to try and emphasis his point, "They will kill her this time! Go!"

Riddick didn't have to read to far into the hint. He looked at Kyra who was already trying to open a small door in the floor for just such an emergency. As soon as she opened it Riddick could see some of the necromonger's shadows on the walls. Hassan watched as the enemy approached. He turned again toward the other two and started to yell.

"GO!"