Riddick trailed Sage down the hall smiling. He was content just to watch her, even after a year the bubbly feeling in his chest refused to subside. The feeling was love and he knew it, but somehow he didn't mind it. In fact he found it a wonderful change from the constant flow of rage and anger that had been his past. He watched as Sage sluggishly made her way down the hall and realized that she was exhausted. He sighed as he stepped forward and easily swept her into his arms.

"What are you doing Riddick?" she snapped looking up at him with her dark eyes smoldering, "You'll hurt your back." Riddick rolled his eyes behind his goggles, just because she had gained a little weight Sage was convinced she was a whale. And even if she weighted a 1,000 pounds he'd still love her.

"Please, you'd have to gain a hundred pounds before I'd even remotely began to hurt myself," he told her, "And I'm carrying you."

"I'm not a child Richard. I can walk by myself," she growled.

"I know that but did it ever occur to you that maybe I like carrying you?" he asked. Sage raised an eyebrow and he grinned wolfishly as he stopped and leaned so that his face was an inch away from hers. "And frankly when I'm done with you you aren't going to be able to walk for a week, so I'm just getting you prepared," he whispered.

"Cocky bastard aren't you?" she purred as she bit her bottom lips, "Bring it on big boy and we'll see who cant walk." She quickly fazed out of his arms and appeared behind him. He gasped as he felt her hands on his chest and shoulders. He turned around and tried to catch her only to have her escape his grasp easily and he groaned as he felt her trail her fingers over his chest. He kept trying to hone in on her but the lights were less than 50 so Sage had the upper hand. She was running her hands over every inch of him and he was going nuts.

"Catch me if you can," she purred in his ear before her scent trailed away towards their room. Riddick stood stock still for a second before he ran after her. Damn that woman could make his do stupid shit not that he was complaining, he'd follow her strait to hell and not complain.

O

Riddick and Sage were sparing the next morning when Scales interrupted them by throwing a young woman into the ring. They both stopped and stared at her; she couldn't have been much older than 25 with copper tinted skin and long black hair. She had a pretty innocent face with wide chocolate eyes and a figure made for a man's hands. She wore blue jeans and a white tee-shirt with high heeled black boots. She looked up at them fearfully and swallowed hard.

"Okay, any one care to explain this?" Sage asked raising an eyebrow.

"She was a stowaway. We found her in the engine room," Scales told them. Riddick looked down at the girl who looked like a cornered mouse.

"Care to explain girl?" he rumbled in a cold voice.

"I…I'm sorry! I needed a way to get away from my foster parents. They'd beat me and sold me for drug money," she stammered as tears began pouring from her eyes. Sage stared at her with blatant distrust in her eyes, but Riddick was looking at her closely.

"And just how long where you planning on staying on my ship without telling me?" he asked.

"I dunno…I…I just wanted a way out," she said before bursting into tears.

"Oh, please. You cant believe this," Sage said rolling her eyes, but when she looked over at Riddick she groaned. He had a look on his face that she alone recognized, pity. He'd told her about Jack/Kira's past which was remarkably like what this girl was saying. She knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth.

"Well, then I guess we'd better find you a room until our next stop, after that you can decided whether to get off or wait until next time," he said causing the girl to stop sobbing and look up at him with grateful eyes.

"Really? Oh thank you! Thank you!" the young woman squealed causing Sage to roll her eyes and look down to find the cat sitting beside her with it's tail flicking irritably. It appeared he didn't like the new arrival anymore than Sage did.

"You're welcome. So what's your name?" he asked the copper skinned girl.

"Jamie," she replied standing up and offering her hand, "Who are you?" Sgae couldn't help but gag slightly at the overly sweet tone of her voice.

"I'm Riddick, and that's Sage, and the cat," he told her shaking her hand gently. The young woman looked over at Sage who scowled at her and the cat's hide began to raise and turn red.

"It's nice to meet you," Jamie said even though she started to shrink away from the two less than pleasant animals glaring at her.

"Feh," she said before wobbling slightly on the spot as exhaustion hit her. Riddick instantly put an arm around her waist and turned to Scales.

"See to it that she gets settled," he commanded before looking at Sage who was yawning widely, "Come on Saxon time for a nap," he said as he lead her out the door past Jamie, Sage scowled at the girl and the cat snapped at her as he passed. Sage let Riddick lead her down the hall without protest; she was suddenly really, really tired.

"You've gone soft," she snapped.

"What? She just needs a place to lay low for a while. You know what it's like to run," he replied.

"She's too sweet, I don't trust her," Sage told him.

"You're insane. She's an innocent," he said rolling his eyes.

"The cat doesn't like her either," she pointed out looking down at the creature who was slinking along beside her.

"He doesn't like her because you don't like her," he snapped, "In case you hadn't noticed he's your cat. Hell he pushed me out of bed last night, and unlike when he doest it to you he didn't get down and curl up beside me. I'm just helping her out." Sage scowled at him and pulled away from him when they got to the door of their room.

"Whatever, I'm taking a nap," she growled before disappearing into their room with the cat following her. She walked in and fell into bed sighing, something about that woman didn't sit right with her. She wasn't sure what it was about her but something wasn't copasetic. She felt the bed dip beside her and looked over to find the cat had jumped up and laid down beside her.

"Well, since you seem to agree with me you can stay," she said as she reached out and laid a hand on his forehead, "Plus if you're here you wont eat my boots again," she muttered as she kicked them off and rolled onto her side. She sighed as she began petting the cat's scaly hide. His eyes began to drift shut and his purr made the bed vibrate beneath her. She felt her own eyes drifting shut and smiled slightly as she felt the beast at her side rack his sandpaper tongue over her fore arm softly.

"I guess your alright dude…you just gotta stop chowing down on my boots," she muttered before she was out.