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: For some reason, this chapter was a lot more difficult to finish than the first six… I tried to go back and mop up any parts that felt choppy or out of place, but I'm sure a few spots snuck by me. Hopefully it shouldn't be too bad.

Chapter Seven: Confessions and Cheap Coffee

Kyra reached out and grabbed hold of a metal bar protruding from the side of the cement floor, one level above the one she was aiming for. Taking hold of it, she disentangled herself from the rope and swung onto the lower landing, limping off in the direction of her cell.

She cursed the impairment. She'd dreamed of this day for six years. Run through a thousand different scenarios in her mind, picturing every detail.

A broken ankle had never been considered.

For Riddick to see her as weak was not what she wanted right now. She was supposed to be strong, she was supposed to look like she didn't need him anymore.

First the ankle, then the rope. 'Yeah', she thought to herself, 'real improvement there, Kyra. You might as well be thirteen again…'

She put a little too much weight on her ankle and hissed. Damn those two. Couldn't even fight fair.

'Who's Kyra?' his words echoed through her mind and she struggled to come up with an answer.

"Kyra," she began, sensing that he had followed her and was now trailing only a few feet behind. "Is survival. She's strong where Jack was weak."

She entered the tiny cell and stopped, leaning against the wall for support and taking the weight off of her quickly swelling ankle. She watched the shadow stretch out beside her as he appeared in the doorway, blocking out the light.

"She's skill where Jack was inexperienced. She's instinct. She's speed. She's control."

Riddick shifted his weight, then took a step closer, causing his shadow to dance across the floor.

"What happened to you, Jack?" he asked quietly.

Kyra slammed her eyes shut as a flood of memories flew unbidden before her minds eye. She didn't want to answer at first. Didn't want to admit just how weak she had been when he first left her.

Her intentions soon slipped to the wayside as her mouth developed a mind of its own, the words tumbling from her lips before she could stop them.

"After you dropped me on that planet, I tried to make it work," she admitted. "Imam's a good guy, but he didn't understand."

She paused and he waited for her to continue.

"It didn't work out," she said, simply. "So I left. Signed up with a merc crew thinkin' I'd make a few UDs and be able to look for you at the same time."

She snorted. "What a fool I was."

With her back turned, she didn't see the pained look that washed across his face, nor the angry scowl that replaced it.

"Merc's," he whispered, his voice low. "You signed with merc's."

"They slaved me out, Riddick," her voice wavered a little, then turned to gravel. A bitter taste filled her mouth as she felt the bile rising in the back of her throat. She swallowed hard, wishing away the memories. "Do you have any idea what that will do to a fifteen year old?"

Riddick closed his eyes and lowered his head. He didn't like where this story was headed.

"Not for hard labor, though," she said with a self-deprecating laugh. "No, I was too scrawny… Too weak… So instead I served as a slave to an old mans libido for eight months before I finally managed to slit his throat and run."

"You signed with merc's," he said again, as if that explained everything. "What did you expect?"

The words came across more harshly than he intended and he instantly regretted them.

"Yeah, well… they were the only ones around," she said, the hurt showing through despite her efforts to conceal it.

He walked forward and put a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off.

"Jack- "

"Kyra," she corrected.

He didn't respond. After watching her for another moment, he turned around and walked out of the cell, leaving her to her thoughts.

x x x x x x x

Toombs picked up the mug of coffee Alexai had brought him and sniffed it warily.

Cautiously taking a sip, the unexpected flavor caused him to spit it right back out again, sending a spray of liquid across the bed he was sitting on.

"Sweet, Jesus!" he choked out. "Doesn't anybody know how to make a decent pot of coffee anymore? This stuff tastes like manure."

His words echoed through the empty room and he sighed. Standing up, he made his way over to a system console on the other side of his quarters. He'd seen them scattered throughout the different rooms and had even used them a couple times before during previous trips to make sure the wire transfers went through. Feeling bored, he tapped the screen and a menu containing a list of options appeared.

He continued tapping the screen, scrolling until a label caught his eye.

Quirking a brow, he pressed a blue button titled 'Video Surveillance' and was rewarded with a page full of thumbnail sized video feeds, each showing a different area of the slam.

"Alright, ya' bald bastard," he mumbled to himself, examining the different feeds. "Where'd you get to?"

He scrolled further down on the page, finally coming to a stop when he recognized Riddick's figure. Another tap and the feed was enlarged, taking up the entire screen and giving him a better view.

Riddick was standing at the entrance to a cell, unmoving and casting a shadow that concealed any other occupants. After watching him stand there in the same position for a couple minutes he rolled his eyes. "Watchin' him's like watchin' paint dry," he observed, narrowing his eyes. "Who are you talkin' to, baldy? Why aren't you planning your escape like you ought to be?"

A few seconds later, Riddick turned around and walked away, providing Toombs with a clear view inside the cell. He recognized the occupant and smirked. "Well, well. Looks like prince charming's found his gal."

"What's this?" he said, watching as Kyra slammed a fist into the wall, then turned around and fell back against it, sliding down to the floor. Folding her arms across her knees she buried her head in them.

"Aww, now you've done it," he said, clicking his tongue and making a 'tsk'-ing sound. "Gone and made the poor girl cry."

He was about to close out the feed and find out where it was Riddick had disappeared to, when another man approached the cell. Walking inside, he squatted down next to her. After a minute or two of what looked like her trying to get him to go away, she seemed to relent and he pulled her into an embrace. "Christ, I feel like I'm watchin' a soap opera."

Making a mental note of the guys face and filing the scene into memory, he closed out the feed and began searching for Riddick again.

Contrary to popular opinion, Toombs wasn't stupid.

He knew Riddick's record. And he knew that more than likely the guy would escape, just like he'd promised.

He'd broken out of SlamCity in under twelve hours, Butcher Bay had only taken a few more than that… so odds were that he'd be out of here just as fast, provided the girl didn't slow him down.

Knowing Riddick, he'd choose a time when he knew a merc was dropping off a con, so there'd be at least one ship in the hangar to boost. What better time than right now, in Toombs' ship? He still had seven hours before sundown. Seven hours to find a way out.

Anticipating that, Toombs had orchestrated the whole rope idea. It wasn't much, but it was a gesture.

You see, once the guards found out a con was escaping - the very con they'd just purchased from Toombs… Well, chances were they'd be wanting their money back.

Toombs wasn't about to stick around for that fireworks display. He'd need a ride off this rock just as badly as Riddick. If that meant helping the asshole out in his escape, then so be it. He'd play along.

For now.