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: It took a year, but I've finally been able to give my muse the swift kick in the butt she needed to help me start working on this fic again. To everyone who's written asking for me to continue (and yes, even that one death threat P) I want to say thanks… you guys are what got me going again! For anyone who hasn't read the story in a while, I definitely suggest flipping through it again – it might help you understand this chapter better. One big thing – the biggest block I had in continuing the story involved Merrick…I just couldn't figure out how to keep him in the story without it losing something, so he's out for the count. To everyone who liked the character – my humble apologies and to those of you who didn't – enjoy! As always, please read & review! The feedback is what keeps me going! … Now, on with the story…

Chapter Nine: Now we're square.

"Ready to go?"

Kyra tossed the extra bandages to the side, not bothering to turn around. "Go where, Riddick?"

"Anywhere."

She was still a moment, then spun around, catching him off guard. In one fluid motion she had knocked him back against the wall, her slender hands holding the bulk of his shoulders firmly in place.

Her ankle screamed in complaint despite the tight wrap that now covered it. "Don't you think if I had wanted to escape I would have gotten myself out by now?"

He exhaled loudly, grabbing her wrists and removing the vice-like grip. "The thought had crossed my mind."

She fought back against his hold.

"Why are you still here, Jack?"

Her resistance went slack, arms dropping to her sides. She shrugged, an apathetic expression on her face.

"And go where, Riddick?" she asked again. "After a while, Crematoria was just as comfortable as any other no-named hell hole I might find myself in. I learned the rules fast, moved up the hierarchal ladder… why fuck with a good thing?"

"So you gave up," it was a statement, not a question.

Another second and she had him pinned against the wall once more, her grip on his shoulders doubling in intensity and a desperate rage burning in her eyes. "No!"

He raised a brow, surprised at the sudden fierceness in her tone.

"No," she repeated, this time quietly. "I never gave up. That was your forte, not mine."

She let him loose and then walked as normally as she could manage across the room to her cot, grabbing an extra shiv from beneath the blankets and hooking it in her belt.

"You think I- " he cut himself short. They didn't have time for this right now. If they were going to make a break for it, it had to be soon before Toombs had the chance to leave in that ship.

He stared at her, taking in the toned figure, the hardened eyes, the shiv in her belt. She barely resembled the Jack he once knew.

Barely, but it was enough to rekindle whatever ties to his humanity that remained. He wanted to help Jack, even if she didn't want him to. He had to get her out of here. Had to set things right.

"I leave in five minutes. With or without you."

x x x x x x x

If someone had told Riddick that his life would be saved by a merc someday, he would have suggested, in a rather obscene way, that they have their head examined.

And yet, they would have been right.

Riddick watched as a wisp of steam rose from the bullet wound of the recently deceased guard, then bent down and pulled the gauge from his hand.

He stood. "You losin' it Toombsy? For a second there it looked as if you were doin' me a favor."

Toombs shrugged from his position in the doorway, then turned and walked through. "Just try to keep up, will ya'? I ain't got all day."

The sound of rustling behind him caught Riddick's attention. Kyra reached the foot of the stairs and walked unevenly into the room, still attempting to hide her impairment. She wore a coil of chains over her shoulder and he caught the glimmer of a shiv in her belt and the handle of another hidden in her boot. At least she'd come prepared.

She said nothing to him, merely grabbed a shiv from the guards boot and headed for the doorway.

Riddick followed, but before he reached the hallway beyond, Kyra let out a growl of annoyance.

"Arrrggh… What the hell are you doing here?" she had a hand on her hip and was glaring at Toombs.

"Good to see you too, beautiful," was his less than chipper reply.

"Riddick," Kyra bit off. "You've got the gauge… shoot him."

He stepped through and the hallway began to feel crowded. "Not quite yet."

"But –" she started to object.

"Don't argue with me. Let's go," he ordered.

Much to Riddick's surprise, the group made it to the transport room and then on to the hangar with relative ease, running into only a handful of guards. Then, as they entered the hangar, six guards stood between them and Toombs' ship.

"Six on three," Riddick mumbled. "I like those odds."

Toombs on the other hand, was looking more than a little skittish and tightened the grip around his gun. "Fuckin' Russians."

Kyra took the two shivs from her belt and started walking towards the group, a deadly glint in her eye. She knew each of the six guards, and had a personal hatred for all of them. Two years of fighting off their advances. Two years of crude comments and physical abuse... Two years too long.

"Try six on one," she said, loud enough for both Riddick and the guards to hear her. "I think I like those odds better."

One of the guards took a few steps forward and raised his gauge, but before he could get a shot off, Kyra had thrown one of the shivs and buried it in his wrist. The sound of his scream cut through the air and Kyra broke into a run.

Behind the goggles, Riddick's eyes had grown wide in amazement. This was his Jack?

The other guards scrambled for their gauges, but Kyra reached them first. Uncoiling the chain, she lassoed the edge of Toombs' ship, anchoring it on one of the talon shaped wings. She bolted to the right, catching all six of the guards around the torso and knocking them off their feet. One of the guards got off a shot as he fell and she felt the sharp sting of a bullet grazing her shoulder. Grabbing the gauge off the nearest guard, she fired six shots.

Each one found its target.

An unsteady silence followed. Kyra didn't seem to notice. She walked forward, the limp once again showing through and tugged her shiv loose from the dead guard's wrist, not bothering to clean off the blood before shoving it back in her belt. Then she paused, staring blankly down at the six guards.

Riddick and Toombs opened the hatch of the ship and climbed inside. Riddick stopped in the open doorway and looked over towards Kyra. She still hadn't moved.

"Kyra," he said. No response.

He exhaled slowly. "Jack."

This time her head turned slowly towards him, her expression a swirling mix of surprise, anger and sweet release.

"Time to go, Jack."

She made her way up to the hatch and Riddick disappeared inside.

"Well heya', Sweets!" Toombs gave a toothy grin as she climbed aboard. "Miss me?"

Kyra looked at him blankly for a moment, then smirked, hauled back, and slugged him in the face.

"Son of a bitch!" Toombs spat, his voice muffled by the hands that were now covering his mouth. He pulled one away, revealing a stream of blood flowing from his nose. He turned towards Riddick. "She hit me!"

"Looks that way," he replied.

Toombs, sensing the shift of power, tensed.

After he closed the hatch, Riddick moved towards the console, ignoring Toombs when the merc leveled a gun in his general direction. "You don't need the gauge, Toombs."

"So we're square now?" Toombs asked, relaxing slightly and lowering his gun.

"Nope," Riddick bent down and picked up the gauge he'd left when he'd entered the prison. Taking aim, he fired at Toombs, the bullet passing through his side in the same place he'd shot Riddick when they met on UV.

"AARRGGHHH," he doubled over, clutching his side. "Son of a bitch!"

Riddick smiled and settled into the pilot's chair.

"Now we're square."