Chapter XIV

Reflections of the Hunted and Hunter

No one had dared to approach Riddick; his entire form giving off waves of such mixed emotions it was clearly dangerous. Only Rex stayed nearby, being the only man within the ship that could handle an explosion of Riddick's kind.

From a seated position on the floor, only feet away from the base of Riddick's chair, Rex watched on with tensed muscles, startling at any sudden movement. He knew that from across the room it looked like Riddick was simply fuming with anger, but Rex also sensed emotions that didn't seem to fit with what had happened. A spike of deep sadness surprised Rex, which was followed by anger and maybe even possessiveness. He wasn't sure how to interpret these, but continued to stay nearby, glancing at his fellow hunter every once in a while. Laiker had no idea what was happening on that lifted platform, but if Riddick beat up Rex again there would be some serious issues to deal with.

Riddick couldn't believe that it was Jack he was chasing, his Jack, the Jack he had saved from that hell planet and trained into perfection. Also the Jack he had bossed around to the point of putting her in servitude and the Jack he had eventually abandoned. That was a slash mark on his record, leaving her alone to Imam and worse, her dreams.

Ignoring that, he tried recalling memories of Jack showing particular hatred towards the male species as a whole and quite a few came up. Whether they had been waiting in line somewhere or simply walking around the port, Jack had always let off this deep-set feeling of disgust and contempt for any males who passed them. The claw marks on her last victims confirmed it was her bugnucks that did that damage and the skid marks on the concrete told him everything.

Yet she had never treated him with any negative emotion like that, only a sort of affectionate reverence. Memories of Jack taking care of him, healing him and simply being there when he needed human contact flooded his mind and suddenly weary sadness took hold of him. He had missed her terribly and he now wondered how he had convinced himself to leave her. Turning his thoughts back to the present, the anger and amusement came again. Should he keep chasing her? It was the first hunt after all.

"FUCK!" Jack smashed her fisted hands into the edge of the control panel in the small cockpit of the ship. He had caught onto her; that damned blinking light that was the coordinate of his ship lit her holographic screen of surrounding ships in the area. Sitting down lightly in her seat, she immediately began to set a course for the nearest port. At this point, Marius skidded in, almost stumbling in his speed to get there.

"Jack? Jack! What's wrong?" He asked, sitting down in the co-pilots seat.

"Fucking bastard fucking caught on." She mumbled, not seeing the window that popped up on her screen that stated in red block letters that she was entering directly into Bellger territory. Marius missed it as well, seeing how he was more focused on the blinking light that represented Riddick's ship then he was on anything else.

"Shit." He replied, pulling at his hair and watching Jack's face, which had morphed from anger into strategic thought. "So, is this the final chase?"

Jack stopped working and looked up at him. His clear blue eyes sparkled back at her and she realized that he could very well be killed in this chase. Closing her eyes briefly, Jack calmed herself enough to reply.

"It is. I am going to ask you to stay on the ship." She barely got the words out of her mouth before an outburst from Marius exploded into the room.

"NO! You always make me do this! You're always ordering me to stay put, not to be out with you unless you're absolutely sure that there is no danger. You just offered to me that I could leave, saying I could take care of myself! Why the fuck can't I go with you? What's your excuse this time?" He lowered his voice in the end, but the hysterical tone hadn't left.

"I believe I said 'ask' that time and when you're with me, you are in an entirely different league of trouble. I just want you to stay low until this blows over. He won't hurt me, I know that, but that doesn't mean he or any of his hunters won't go after you." She reasoned, not raising her voice at all. Jack knew that if she was going to win this she would have to stay on the high road.

"I talked to him, fought with him even – he knows I'm with you." Marius shot back and was enraged when Jack laughed aloud, although he didn't miss the evident tone of morbidity as she laughed.

"You have never fought with Riddick." She said, still chuckling. "You avoided fighting with him, that's what. Yes, he is aware we're in the same ship and know each other, but he is a hunter, Marius. Hunters do one thing – they hunt."

"He won't hunt you!" Marius shouted, making Jack startle and send him a sharp glare that made him shrink back.

"What do you mean," she asked, her voice low and dangerous, "he won't hunt me?"

"He…he…couldn't hunt you. Not for real, anyway." Marius started, suddenly afraid of his mentor. "You're the only one to, you know…get close to him and…well, survive. Do you think he'd actually hunt you?"

Jack didn't reply, but the stormy look that crossed her face was enough information for Marius. He was right, Riddick would never seriously hunt Jack for a bounty, but would he chase her out until the end? Did he realize that the bounty was fake as well?

These questions floated in his mind as Jack prepped the ship for landing, requesting permission to land on the closest planet, Tykron, known universally for its icy conditions. Strapping himself in, Marius shook his head. This wasn't going to end well.

"Sir, where are we going next?" Laiker asked Riddick, who was now walking towards his private rooms. Rex had been sent to rest up, seeing how he had watched Riddick for hours on end.

"Tykron."

"But that's-"

"-a direct order." Riddick snarled as his door closed behind him. Laiker growled and flipped the door off, imagining it was Riddick himself. Turning on his heel, he stalked to the main room, where he began to order the crew into work.

Riddick paced the length of his rooms, anger nearly sparking from his moving form. So Jack was killing all these men, men who had no real place in society. But why would there be such a high bounty for her? He highly doubted it was the government; they could give a flying shit about mass murderers as long as they weren't threatened themselves. His only guess was that it was a private party, most likely the remaining hunters of Bellger, but this didn't make sense either. Why would they put up a bounty when they could simply hunt her themselves?

Snarling in confusion, Riddick threw open the door to one of his closets. Yet this was no normal closet, no clothes were seen in here. The insides of the doors as well as the wall of the back of the closet were lined with weapons of every imaginable kind. When he had become the leader of this hunting circle, he had the ability to spend small amounts of money on luxury items. To most people, luxury items meant upgrades in ships, lines of prostitutes or even an endless amount of alcohol. Yet to Riddick, luxury items meant weapons. Many of them were ancient, dating back to ancient earth times. Needless to say, he just kept those as pieces of art, but he on the other half, he kept up on every new weapon released. He had his favorites, but for chasing, he used his own weapons, his original shivs. He didn't keep those with him on hand all the time, but kept ones that he had acquired recently.

As he handled the older blades, the familiar feel and weight felt like having an absolutely necessary body part reattached. A small smirk lit his face for a moment, before he closed the closet doors, barely listening to the air-tight locking seals that kept the weapons in such good condition. Arming himself, Riddick lay back on the bed he barely used, his hands clasped behind his head. Pulling off his goggles, he set them aside and closed his eyes, allowing for a few hours of rest before the real chase began.

"Christ, Jack, it's freezing and we're not even off the ship yet!" Marius snapped, pulling his coat tightly over him and double checking the clasps. He may have been staying in the ship, but it didn't mean it wasn't a meat freezer. He pulled on a pair of gloves and hugged himself. Looking up he saw Jack reappear from their bedroom, a strange looking device in hand. She put it down on the table as she prepared herself for the arctic wasteland and Marius took this time to inspect it.

It was a rope. But not any ordinary rope. It looked like a cross between a rope, whip and cat'o'nine tails. There was no handle like a whip or cat'o'nine tails, but the shards of steel were strongly woven into the rope and it seemed like it could be used as a whip.

Marius shuddered, not envying the man who was going to be at the wrong end of this weapon. Glancing up, he quietly wondered to himself how she could be wrapped in so many layers and still look distinctly feminine. Her hair was braided and it swung behind her, looking nearly as vicious as the weapon she held. He also noticed she had put a layer of glove between her hands and bugnucks and approved. It would be terrible if she got half way through a battle and realized she couldn't feel her hands anymore.

"You," she turned, making the trailing flaps of her coat twirl before they rested on the ship's floor, "are staying here. Can I have your word on that?" She stood before Marius, her black sunglasses perched on top of her head.

"What if something happens to you? What should I do?" He asked, trying to distract her from her goal. Indeed this did distract her, seeing how she turned and went quickly into the bedroom and returned with an envelope in hand. As she watched him observe her, she realized how much he had grown since they had been working together. Sadly enough, whatever nutrition he had gotten with her had been better then what he had had before and a growth spurt had hit him almost instantly. Shaking her head, she handed him the envelope.

"If something does happen to me, find Riddick. Give him this. And," she added, pulling back the flap of her coat to the side of her waist and taking out a shiv, "this. This is one he left for me, he will recognize it. If he denies whatever I wrote there, he can't deny this, so don't forget about it."

"How will I know if…" he trailed off, not wanting to think about it.

"I'll radio in." She supplied, smoothly pulling the coat straps through their silver buckles and securing them. Checking her weapons, she was surprised when she suddenly had an armful of Marius. He held her tightly around the middle, burying his face in the soft worn leather of her coat.

"Don't want anything to happen to you." He mumbled and Jack barely heard him clearly.

"Hey," she said, pulling back and looking down at him, "it's going to be fine. The chance of something happening to me is so slim that it can't even happen. Besides, if something does happen, Riddick will take care of you. I don't want to brag or anything," at this Marius smiled, "but he isn't the best…mentor for emotions, I'd do better with that. But as a guardian? If he knows how much you mean to me, he won't let anything happen to you. And he might even train you."

"And if you do get back?" He asked, trying to look on the bright side.

"Well then it will be one happy dysfunctional family." She snorted at this as she turned to leave. "You'd better be here when I get back." He muttered a 'yes' and waited until the door hatch had sealed shut behind her.

"But I didn't promise I'd stay." And with that, he moved forward to the cockpit.

"Sir! New murder! On Tykron, just as you predicted." A hunter's voice crackled through the intercom, waking Riddick from his rest. He had grabbed his coat and gloves and was out the door before the connection ended. Walking quickly into the main room, he was pleased to see all of his hunters running about, keeping everything organized. Laiker appeared at his side, waiting for permission to fill him in. With a nod, the hunter burst into the details, handing Riddick the photos from the crime scene.

"One man this time, she's really teasing us, boss. Neat weapon she used, too. I think it's-"

"I know what it is." Riddick growled out, seeing in the back of his mind the exact same weapon in his weapons closet. "Continue."

"This just happened recently. Bellger's men told us-"

"Bellger? Tykron…oh shit. Fucking hell, she's dragged us straight into Bellger territory." Riddick sounded pissed. He had yet to tell Laiker or Rex that he knew exactly who they were chasing, so only he knew the dangers of Jack running around on Tykron killing men. "How much longer until we land?"

"Boss, it doesn't matter, Bellger is dead, his men know we've got first hunt, they're basically helping us find this crazy bitch. She-" Laiker yelped suddenly. In the blink of an eye Riddick had turned and wrapping his large hand around the hunter's neck, pushed him up against the back wall and held him there, pushing him farther up the more he struggled.

"Riddick!" Rex yelled in warning, running up the stairs. "Let Laiker go!" He barked, ready to take out his own leader if it came to that. With a snarl Riddick let the man fall to the floor, only supported as Rex nearly dove to catch him. As he sat on the floor with Laiker, he glared up at Riddick who looked furious.

"Don't you dare call her that." He said, his voice rumbling like approaching thunder. "How long until we get there?" He asked again, his face still dark with anger.

"We'll be landing in a few minutes, boss." Laiker wheezed out, making Rex glare at Riddick again.

"Good. Get ready, this is the final chase." He spoke, not looking back at the pair. Rex helped Laiker up and they walked back into the ship to get ready, Laiker stopping to glance at Riddick again. He had been right. This woman they were chasing was personally acquainted with Riddick. He knew her well.

Marius had almost laughed when Jack returned. She walked into the ship looking like a snow monster out of one of those terrible sci-fi movies. He helped her out of her coat and brushed snow off of it, still smiling as she grumbled to herself. Her hands were thankfully still able to feel, but she hadn't been too pleased about leaving her weapon there. Riddick knew it was her now, but she felt it was necessary to leave one final clue. Grunting to her charge that she needed a hot shower, Jack walked into the bedroom, the door hissing shut behind her. Marius had settled back into his book when a heart-stopping knocking was heard outside the ship. He lunged for the ship's intercom and spoke quietly into it, not wanting those outside to hear anything.

"Jack, someone's at the door!" He heard her fumble for the one in the bathroom.

"Fuck, shit, damn! Receive them; if they ask, tell them you're traveling with your older sister. Graduated from the academy, don't go off the story! I'm staying in the shower." She shut the connection and Marius paled.

He went to the door hatch and putting in the security code, pulled the lever to open it. Marius almost fainted as he saw the visitors. Well, it was the center one that scared him the most. An impossibly tall man ducked into the ship and two normal-sized men followed behind him and Marius shut the door instantly. Gulping, he turned and tried to speak.

"Who are you?" He barely got that through without stuttering. The tallest man unwound his scarf and looked down at Marius, who felt very small at this point. "Sorry! Come in, I'll make you something to eat or drink."

Marius shot through them and into the kitchen, trying to calm his nerves. Indeed the three men followed behind, muttering to each other as they looked the ship over. Thank the gods that Jack didn't leave any of her weapons lying around.

"Erm, will tea do?" Marius asked, turning around and was slightly relieved to see they had sat down around the small kitchen table. Even sitting the tallest man was taller then Marius was, but he nodded as he began to take off his other layers, motioning to the others to do the same. "Is there something I could help you with?"

"Have you heard anything about a murder?" One of them asked, carefully watching Marius' reaction. But he was almost an actor by now and saw he convinced them thoroughly.

"A murder?" His eyes opened wide with 'fear'. "No, nothing about it at all! Oh, I told her we should keep a line open for the news, but no, we have to save the ship's energy for the heat!" He sounded like a scared young boy.

"Her?" The other shorter man asked.

"Oh, my sister. We're traveling together." He supplied, turning around to take the tea off. He had taken three cups down and poured the tea in, hoping they liked old English tea. It was the only kind Jack allowed in her ship.

"Alone?" The tallest asked, leaning back so Marius could set the cup down in front of him. He nodded in response and turned around to get the sugar. Setting it down, he sat in the fourth chair and looked the men over. Most definitely Riddick's hunters.

"Can I ask who you are?" He tried, making sure he laced his voice with fear. "She'll be pissed if I let you guys on and off the ship and don't even get your names." They chuckled at this.

"My name is Rex and you don't need to know the other two. We're looking for the person who murdered the man here just a while ago." Rex said, taking a liking to the young boy.

"Murder, huh?" Marius sounded like a semi-interested young boy. Just like Jack would want him to be. "Was it-"

"None of your business, Kyle?" Jack's icy voice came from the doorway. He looked up and did his very best not to be shocked at her appearance. She had dressed as…well, to put it bluntly, a slut. No doubt to get the men's attention away from anything that could betray who they actually were. She was leaning in the door, her hands bracing her as she leaned forward, giving everyone in the room a very decent view of her cleavage.

"Well that's one way to introduce yourself, Kat." He grumbled, pretending to be a slightly embarrassed younger brother. "That…"

"Sex goddess." Jack supplied, licking her lips as she slowly sauntered into the kitchen.

"Would be my sister. Kat, this is Rex and two other guys. Asking about a murder that just happened here. I told you-"

"Really?" Jack purred, slipping into Rex's lap, caressing his face as she snuggled deeper. "How exciting. So, are you investigators or what?" An added pout made Rex all the more uncomfortable. Riddick alluded to the fact that whoever they were looking for definitely wasn't a low-class woman like this. So, in an uncharacteristically-Rex way, he decided to enjoy this as long as possible.

"Are you calling us mercs?" He challenged, letting his arm slide around her waist and hook his thumb into the waist-band of her pants.

"You mean those vile pussies? Ew, no! They give prostitutes a bad name! So that must mean," Jack swung around and in a movement too fast for anyone to really take in, straddled Rex, "you're something a little more…dangerous."

"Perhaps." He teased back.

"Hmm," Jack moaned slightly, knowing it was driving this man crazy. "I like the ones that walk on the wild side. So…how am I going to classify you, hmm? An assassin maybe?" Jack was slowly inching up his lap and Rex realized he had to end this soon.

"Someone," he stood suddenly, making her slide back and hit the table top with a thump, "you don't want to mess with. Clearly you know nothing about what we're looking for." His sex drive was beating him over the head as he attempted to walk away, doing his best to ignore the saddened pout that Kat now wore. She got up and let them out, catching Rex's wrist before he stepped out.

"Well, if it gets too dangerous out there, my bed can keep you safe." She winked and he tensed, stiffened and marched out of her ship. Jack closed the hatch behind him and let out a laugh. "Damn, if that won't confuse Riddick I don't know what will."

"Was that really necessary, Jack?" Marius groaned as he walked out of the kitchen. "They barely touched their tea!"

"No one asked you to be a housewife, Marius." Jack commented, walking towards the bedroom. "I gotta change, there's no way I'm running around in slut clothes like these." And with that, Marius was left with three cold and full cups of tea.

"And?" Riddick demanded, staring Rex down who was acting like a nervous schoolboy.

"Shestraddledme." He said in one short breath.

"You think it's her, boss?" Laiker asked from behind, rubbing his neck. Riddick had apologized gruffly, but he noticed that the crew made sure not to badmouth their target when he was around.

"You said she was traveling with her younger brother?" He asked, dragging a hand over his face. The crime scene hadn't left a trail as to where she had gone, so he was depending on these 'interviews' he sent his men to conduct.

"Yes, sir." Rex replied, feeling nervous.

"Remember what she looked like?" He asked, sending a sliver of silver glare towards the other two men who had accompanied Rex.

"How could we not? Not too tall, not too short, well-muscled, this wasn't any anorexic chick. She had this long black hair and these eyes. Man, if those weren't sexy I don't know what is anymore." One of them replied, making Riddick roll his eyes. This was definitely Jack, only being a seductress to veer his men off trail. And veer she had done.

"SIR!" An out of breath hunter burst into the room, startling all the occupants except Riddick. "Another murder and it's fresh! We've got men tracking her right now!"

"LET'S GET GOING!" Riddick roared, heading straight out the door, buckling his heavy coat on and pulling out his shivs. The main hatch had already been opened for him and he ran out into the deepening snow. Laiker and Rex were on his heels, stun guns in hand. He didn't need to someone to lead him to Jack; he could smell her in the air. Following her scent, he broke out into a lope like the predator he was. Puffs of breath followed the trio as they leaped over obstacles and pushed through the snow, like breaths of a pack of wolves, running to catch their prey.

Thanks to these reviewers:

TotallyRiddickObsessed –always the first to review. Haha, it only slightly slipped my mind. I knew I should do it, but I missed my mark by a day or so. Won't happen again seeing how I just need to write one more chapter then the story is done. And no, it isn't the next chapter, it's the chapter after that. But don't worry, sequel to KF is online and ready to go. Well, almost. Is there a chance of Liege reappearing? Did you really like her? Hmm…perhaps in KF sequel, I was thinking of punting in Toombs for some fun. Who knows, I might just keep Liege out of KF sequel and after I'm done with that, write a sequel to Of Schoolgirls and Convicts.

njrd-Alright, twist isn't happening until next chapter though. So I hope you didn't expect it to happen now. Hope I've written up to your expectations.

XinnLajgin-Well, you'll see he isn't so pissed about it later or maybe in this past chapter, hmm, I should really be able to keep it all apart but it just meshes into one large ongoing story in my head. Jack will join in on the game, rest assured. Marius? Matchmaker? Nah, but he does, in a way, bring Jack and Riddick together in the next chapter. Oh, did I just drop a hint for some R/J action? I think I did!

IT-chapter has been written! As you already know, of course. :slightly hurt: I wasn't on alert and you're beta'ing my fics! Just kidding, IT, don't take offense now.

Tinca-Woo! Another fan of the fighting scenes, that's awesome. I mean, even I'm a fan of the fighting scenes I write. Go figure, but yeah, don't want to act to egotistical. I'm afraid the twist only makes it one chapter longer, but I realize all the stuff I write always ends up kind of long. 'cept for In Vaako's Chamber and KF, those are shorter.

SueBe-erm, sure it counts as three votes. Like in Fight Club! But that was with promises. Yeah, I wanted to make sure that I made Riddick out as a pretty nasty beast when he wants to be, but I wasn't in the mood to write a violent flashback, sorry. :headdesk: Read the end of the response I gave to XinnLajgin and your pos-i-bil-i-ties question will be answered, Oh Sir of Cambell Soup.