Disclaimer: Don't own it…
Summary: Six years can be a long time. A long time away from him. A long time for something to go wrong. AU that picks up right after Dark Fury - some TCOR spoilers.
Pairings:slight R/J
Warnings: Language, mild violence…
Authors Note: I know I promised to try and make these chapters longer, but I haven't quite figured out how yet. So instead I'm compromising and making them a little bit longer, but being much more frequent than usual with my updates. Thanks for the reviews so far! Oh and Joani – A lot of those lines at the start of the chapter were directly from the movie. And I think I took that "insulting" line from that too, but I can't remember for certain if he says it or not… so that's probably why it sounded so much like something he would say. Wish I could take credit for it all though, they're some great lines – thanks again for the feedback! )
Chapter Three: "The name is Toombs"
"So how'd you find me anyway, merc?" Riddick asked as he set up Toombs' cryo link. A sharp pain was pulsating through the wound on his side and he worked to ignore it. Once he knew the merc was in cryo-stasis, he'd deal with it, but this came first.
"The name is Toombs," he said, wincing as Riddick tightened a restraint around his wrist. "And you can thank your girl for that."
Riddick didn't respond, instead he gruffly inserted a needle into Toombs' arm.
"Saw her again on Helion Prime a few years after I first met your bald ass– " he cut himself off as he took in Riddick's cave man like appearance. "Well, your once-bald ass, anyhow. Did a little research, found out she was wanted for murder. So I tracked her for almost another year until I finally cornered her on Maxis Seven."
It took Toombs a year to catch her?
Something akin to pride stirred within Riddick and he couldn't hide his smile. "A whole year for a scrawny little girl, Toombs?"
"Scrawny, my ass," Toombs mumbled, turning his head to the side and staring at the floor of the ship. The motion called Riddick's attention to a scar near his right eye.
"She give you the makeover?" he asked.
Toombs' expression turned sour. "Bitch sliced me with a shiv and then kicked embers from her campfire onto the wound. Couldn't see out of that eye for a month."
"What does all this have to do with how you found me?"
The merc shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "When she saw me look up your file on the system, she mentioned she was lookin' for you too. Had been for a few years. So I figger' if she couldn't find you, then you were probably in a place where you didn't want to be found.
"Figger'ed you'd probably be on some shithole of a planet nobody'd think to go to. Not too many planets like that in the known 'verse. Not that are inhabitable, anyhow. UV was the third world I checked."
Riddick flipped a switch and the air filled with a slow humming sound. The small twin containers nearby changed from the dark red of Toomb's blood to the cloudy blue of the cryo solution.
As Toombs' eyelids grew heavy, Riddick gave a final tug at his restraints to make certain they were secure. "Nighty-night, merc."
He opened his mouth to mutter a curse, but the words died unspoken on his lips as he slipped into the inky blackness of cryosleep.
Riddick stood slowly, lightheaded from the loss of so much blood. As he searched the cramped cabin for the med-lock, he thought over these strange turn of events.
Timple-max prison. Crematoria. A high price on her head.
He'd always assumed that it was his being around people that caused bad things to happen to them. He'd never considered that being apart from them might be just as problematic.
As he took what he needed from the med-lock, another spike of pain ripped through his side, carrying with it a surge of anger. He'd told her to stay on Helion Prime with the holy man. Made her promise to keep out of trouble and not go looking for him.
Should have known she wouldn't listen.
Now here he was, kidnapping a merc and sending himself to prison. He'd get her out, set her straight and be done with it. Done with her. Done with people.
Done for good.