Disclaimer: Don't own TCOR – but Merrick, Marcus, Jonesy and the guards are products of my own imagination so if you want to borrow them, lemme know first.

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 Notes: This chapter's a lot shorter than the others – but I got to the end, and it was just screaming for a chapter break. And far be it from me to tick off my muse… Anyway, to answer a few reviews:

Mutant-Gorilla – Loved the fic so far, hope you continue it! And also, AU stands for Alternate Universe, we use it to describe a detour from the original "Universe" created around a fandom. In this case, I took a 'detour' after Dark Fury and ignored most of what happened in the new movie, creating my own 'Alternate' Universe….

K-Nice – I'm not entirely sure what you were asking, but I realized after reading your review that a lot of people might not have heard the term "wifebeater" before. It's basically another name for a guys tank top, and I'm used to hearing it so I wrote it in without thinking about how other people might read the term. I've changed the phrase back to 'tank top' so hopefully it will be less confusing. Thanks for bringing it up! ….

Kae – To be honest, I have no idea how I've managed to keep up the pace of two chapters a day. Most times I write a little more than a chapter and writers block sets in. For some reason that hasn't happened yet, so as long as I can keep the ideas flowing hopefully the updates will keep coming… )

To everyone else, thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

Chapter Six: Who's Kyra?

"I'm Riddick," he dusted off his hands and ambled closer. "Who's Kyra?"

Merrick gave him a funny look as Kyra sidled up next to him.

"Jack," said Riddick, his tone stolid.

"Jack?" Merrick queried, casting a sidelong glance at the woman next to him.

"Jack," repeated Kyra, flicking a curly strand of hair behind her ear. "Is dead. The name's Kyra now."

Sensing the mounting tension and the funny waver in Kyra's voice, Merrick made a wise decision. He left the two of them behind and wandered off towards the mess hall.

The sirens finally cut off, leaving the large room silent, but for the sound of their breathing. Unable to hold his gaze, Kyra turned and hobbled (with as much dignity as she could muster) towards a nearby rope. Grabbing hold, she began pulling herself up it, hand over hand.

"You're hurt," he observed, moving to stand at the bottom of the rope.

"So I've noticed," she grunted between pulls.

"It's recent."

She gave a harsh sounding laugh as she continued her climb. "You don't miss much, do you?" she said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

He started up the rope after her.

"Who's Kyra?" he asked again.

"What are you doin' here, Riddick? You slip up? Get caught?" she wheezed, sweat dripping down the side of her face. "Or were you just in the mood for a steamy vacation?"

Riddick craned his neck and narrowed his eyes at her, as if the answer should have been obvious. "I came to get you out, Jack."

"My hero," she bit off. "If you wanted to save me, you're a little late, Riddick," she reached up to grab hold of the rope again, but missed. The muscles in her other arm, already worn-out from the thirty foot climb, finally gave under her full weight and she started to fall. She reached wildly for the rope, but couldn't grasp it in time.

Riddick reached out and grabbed her flailing hand as she began to drop, supporting both himself and Kyra with only one arm.

Struggling, he raised her up enough to take hold of the rope, leaving her to dangle beside him. She grabbed hold and found herself pressed against him, his legs wrapping around hers and providing her with enough extra support to keep her arms from giving out again.

Their faces were only inches apart.

If she looked closely, she could see his eyes shining beneath the goggles. His familiar smell washed over her and for a moment she felt like breaking down. Felt like giving in to the pain and the relief. Felt like turning into a neurotic mess thirty feet above the ground.

She searched for something to say, but came up empty.

What do you say to the man you'd given up on? To the man you'd counted out?

When suddenly, he's here like you always knew he would be.

"You didn't answer me," he said. "Who's Kyra?"

What do you say?

Nothing.

Her face hardened and she reached for a higher handhold, continuing her climb with renewed fervor.