'Do you ever read the news?'

Sandra let her hands drop from polishing, and sighed. Riddick had been throwing dozens of questions at her the whole night through—some of them she found quite irritating and irrelevant. There were "you've got a PC to yourself?" "How long it is since you've updated your PC?" "You've got pets?" "How much is three hundred and fifty five divided by five?" and even one she found quite offending—"have you ever had a one night stand?"

It was as if he found her quite innocent, and had expected a big "NO". Which was it.

'You know, you've been asking me MANY questions and not even one enquired what was my name,' she remarked pointedly, crossing her arms.

Riddick gestured at the blades. 'Finish them,' he said, completely ignoring her. 'By midnight.'

Sandra sighed in exasperation, and continued her work. She was right about it going to be a long night. With the Lord of the Necromongers talking openly about his murder accomplishments…not good. She paused to push her hair back from her face, steeled her tired arms, and went back to work.

'What's your name?' Riddick asked all of a sudden. He was seated beside her, propped against the wall, studying his PC all night. Sandra glanced at him sideways, and smiled a little. Somehow that question had made her grew hot in the face. 'Sandra.'

'Sandra,' he repeated. He growled, which in fact was him chuckling quietly. He looked at her, running his goggled eyes over her smooth back and layered hair. He sat back, clasping his fingers behind his head. 'Got a mother?'

'She left,' came the monotonous reply.

He wasn't surprised—his own parents left him in a liquor store rubbish bin. For a specific reason, of course, since he was the only male Furyan baby left, but he still blamed them for what he was today. He grunted, willing himself to think of something else. Thinking about his family always made him frustrated and angry for quite a while. He figured she didn't need to have an angry Riddick to deal with.

'And daddy?'

Sandra paused. 'What about him?'

'How is he like?'

'Charming, charismatic, filthy rich,' she shrugged. 'Nothing that I look for in a man.'

'He's filthy rich,' Riddick noted, smirking. 'So why aren't you pleased? You're living the life of a princess. Most women and daughters must be jealous.'

'I have a thing against him,' she simply said. Riddick didn't force her to continue; if he did, he knew from past experiences, she might as well lie. Instead, he gave her the silent treatment, something that always prompted the person to continue speaking. It worked, as always. 'No daughter would like it when her mother is taken from her,' she muttered.

'He took your mother away?' he asked gently. Poor girl…what the—? Hey, Big Bad, are you actually sympathizing with her?

'Ma didn't want to go,' she said, nodding.

'Where did she go?'

'I don't know,' Sandra said, glancing at him. Her grey eyes were a little misty. 'That's what's killing me inside. I thought maybe one day I could find her; I just don't know where to start.'

'Maybe he sent her to one of those planets,' he reasoned. 'What did he say just now? Freeaun, Garunda and what shit?'

'Impossible,' she shook her head, chuckling. 'Then she must be dead.'

'Dead?'

'Yeah,' Sandra nodded. She quitted searching for any visible emotions on his face, and went back to polishing. She noted gleefully that she was almost done. 'These people are knuckleheads: they always fall for that trick of his.'

'What?'

'Promises of riches and glory,' she waved her hands dramatically. 'They always fall for it. Always. They sign the treaty with soaring hopes and insatiable greed for riches, seal the deal, father assassinates them, and that planet falls under his direct power. It would appear legal that father gets the reins of the title "ruler". Another fool falling for his simple plan. Simple as that.' She looked at him again, 'I was hoping you'd figure that out.'

'They must have been real, genuine, authentic knuckleheads.'

'You didn't figure that out?'

'We've already did.'

'I thought so,' she said, chuckling as she swiped the cloth over the last blade. Done, she threw the cloth aside and collapsed beside Riddick. 'Yet you are still here.'

'I like the hospitality.'

Sandra laughed. 'You'd better get lost before he fries your ass, like he did to the rest.'

'He will never come within a meter radius of my ass,' Riddick reassured. 'Besides, wouldn't it be your ass that he'd be frying?'

'I play my role,' she replied, shrugging. 'I do the job of making the guest comfortable, let him settle into bliss oblivion, and daddy does the physical thing. That it why I am still here speaking to you--a simple job, with my life as my salary.' She shook her head. 'I have nothing to lose ever since ma's gone.'

'And I thought you're still in school.'

'Just one of my acts,' she chuckled. 'I must have fooled you hard.'

'You sure did,' Riddick admitted. But you sure didn't look like 5 years younger, he thought. With that body…now, THAT'S a distraction. 'So you're a prisoner in your father's world.'

'You could say that.'

'A pawn in his game.'

'How poetic of you,' she said, letting out a chuckle. 'Yeah, I'm a pawn, for the mere sake of breathing, or I'd be some 6 feet underground talking to some hungry maggots poking out my eyes instead of you here.'

'Then why are you telling me all this?' he asked blatantly. 'Doing so could give you a free package to hell and, like you said, some 6 feet underground talking to some hungry worms poking out your eyes.'

'Maggots.'

'Like why the hell does that matter.'

'A visit to those planets would do the trick,' she said, sighing. She hugged her legs to her chest, and rested her chin on her knee. Hell, she actually looks cute doing that. 'I see them suffering, starving, ignored and discarded, I realized I could have saved them.' She shook her head in frustration. 'At this stage, I realized, too, that it was high time I did some good, so that is what I'm trying to do now—to do you and your people some good, by trying to get you off this planet.'

'You do not fear death.'

'I have nothing to lose,' she said again, shrugging. This girl is lost.

'And what you'd think I would do if you told me all this shit?'

Sandra looked at him, and smirked. 'I would think that you'd use me as spy into my father's plans, then you'd kill him, abandon me on some God-forsaken planet in the multiverse, while you take hold of his power.'

Riddick's lips quirked up at its ends. 'Hey, you're a smart kid.'

'You're really going to do that?' she asked, amused.

'Perhaps,' he said, not revealing anything. Sandra snorted softly, and leaned her head back into the wall. Both remained silent, digesting newly acquired information. Then she broke the silence. 'You really killed for those eyes?'

'Go to Google. Search under "murderers & convicts", and the first thing that comes up. You'll get your answer.'

'That would be Richard B. Riddick,' she said, chuckling. 'You are confident.'

'Unbroken record,' he reasoned, smirking.

'And how the King of Murders ended up being the Lord of the Necromongers?' she asked curiously.

'Some shit ass rule that tells you that you keep what you kill,' Riddick growled. Sandra laughed softly.

'You aren't the bad ass sort I thought you'd be,' she teased. 'Although you're quite an asshole.'

'Watch your tongue,' he growled.

'And what would you do if I don't?' she ribbed. 'Ghost me?'

He had lunged at her, and had her on her back in a second, pressing a newly polished shiv into the crevice between her throat and her collarbone. His other hand held her throat firmly, though not choking her but clearing sending the message. 'Maybe,' he said, chuckling. 'Cutting you up like a surgeon, starting with the tongue, and maybe after that one of your ears.'

'And followed by a certain eggs and sausage?' a clearly shaken Sandracouldn't resistto taunt some more. Riddick glanced down, and there, she held a small hunting knife precisely the spot where he was most sensitive to fleshy pleasure. Oh, fuck this kid…yeah, I'm sure you'd enjoy that, another voice in his head laughed. 'You should watch how you speak to women, Riddick,' she teased. 'Otherwise you are unable to charm them into your bed.'

'Aww, you need not worry, darlin',' Riddick reassured, smirking. 'Women comes naturally for me.' He released her, then in one swift motion, pulled her onto her feet, and slammed her against the wall. She cried out in pain. The audibly echo of the hunting knife hitting the floor resounded in her mind. She was bloody hell trapped.

Riddick put his hands on the wall , trapping her under him. Sandra narrowed her eyes as he leaned down, nearing her face.

'Woman,' he whispered, his voice coming out with a deep rumble. 'Know. Your. Place.'

He stared at her for a moment, intimidating her, taunting her, daring her. Finally, afterwhat appeared to herto be nine hours, he stepped back, gave her one of his lopsided smiles, and walked from the room, leaving the door ajar.

Sandra stood there for a moment, staring after him. Then hot angry tears sprung to her eyes. She kicked the wall in frustration. Finally exhausted from all that she went through, she sat down, and cried.

There! Another chapter!

I forgot the disclaimers. Disclaimer: I own nobody or anything from PB/TCOR.

A little twist to Sandra's character. (",) And btw, just to ask you readers, is it better to name every chapter, or just stick to the standard Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc?

njrd : Thanks for your reviews! She's not that innocent after all. Lol.

ListenNatalie : I still can't see where my story's going, though...but I think I have a rough idea. :P Thx for reviewing!

bima : hi! Sandra's one blur character at times, and thank you for your reviews.

vinbaby19 : haha, thxx. Hope you'll like this chapter too. Thanks for reviewing!

-Letreen-