A/N: new chappie! enjoy!

Chapter 2: Coming Back From the Dead

"You sure?" Zain snarled into the view screen.

"Of course I'm sure!" the man on the other end of the screen snarled back. "I've only been looking for this asshole for four years, I think I know Riddick when I find him!"

"And you say the girl's with him?" Zain interrogated, his sapphire eyes wide with question and staring through strands of died emerald green hair.

"Yes," the other man groaned. "Boss, I've been passing over the same place on that planet since you hired me for this. I'm bored out of my god damn mind! Can I just take him already?"

"Are you shittin' me?" Zain boomed into the screen. "This is Riddick! Don't you dare take him till I get there! He'll ghost you guys faster than you can blink, and he's my prisoner!"

"But we found him," another voice pointed out and another merc appeared on the screen, making Zain frown in confusion.

"What the shit-?"

"Sorry, boss," the first merc shrugged. "The offer he had was better. We'll be taking Riddick now, since we are closer. Bye."

The view screen was switched off before Zain could even think to protest and cursed repeatedly as he strapped himself in and changed course on his control panel.

"Goddamn…piece of…SHIT!" he mumbled then shouted and shouted again, "Son of a bitch!"

He'd been trying to catch Riddick longer than that dickhead. Ten years of his life tracking him down, watching him, looking for weaknesses but he didn't have any, save for bright lights, but that was easily avoided by the goggles he wore. Zain had stopped at Maunder Prime not too long ago where a few people had sworn to have seen them there, but it had been years ago.

Still, for some of them it had been a highlight. They said they'd seen him with a girl and he wondered if maybe this girl was someone close. A sister, or some other kind of relative, but he quickly abandoned that idea. Riddick wouldn't trouble himself with relatives even if he had any. So what was she to him? An amusement? Soon, he found himself not caring. Whoever she was to him he'd use her to get to him, and take both of them in to slam.

He'd heard a lot of people say that the girl had been on her own a few times, and that she said she'd killed Riddick. He had laughed in their faces, and when they told him the story she'd told them he'd laughed even harder. What the hell did they know? Riddick wasn't going to let his guard down and be ghosted that easily! He knew the whole time, Riddick was still alive, he was just hiding…until now.

Zain had found him, not too long ago with his so-called partner that had just betrayed him. They were supposed to split the money for Riddick fifty-fifty, but apparently, the other merc was willing to split a bit more with him. Well, then, screw him, he thought. Let them get themselves ghosted. He knew Riddick would do both of them in, and get off on it, no problem, so revenge wasn't on his mind…at least, not for those two.

"Riddick," Zain growled to himself, gripping the helm tightly until his knuckles turned white. "I'm gonna get you for killing Toombs. You'll pay for killing my brother!"

Several hours later...

Riddick and Deirdra stood on either side of the cave entrance. They'd heard the ship land near the canyon, and Deirdra had seen it when she chanced to peek out of the cave to see what kind of ship it was. Mercs. Riddick had his shivs in hand as Deirdra held onto a knife and they stared out at the windy, winter scenery. The fire that had been keeping them warm was put out to envelope the cave in darkness. Deirdra would have to follow Riddick's lead. He was the only one that could see now.

Deirdra pressed her back against her side of the cave wall, her head facing the entrance to look out for the mercs. She heard faint footsteps in the snow and tensed for battle. Riddick must have heard them too because he also stiffened. Deirdra glanced to his side of the entrance and saw a figure coming from the other direction, Riddick saw the same on her side. They looked at each other and nodded, knowing what the other was thinking.

The two ran from the cave and toward the mercs coming the opposite direction they were each facing. Deirdra jumped and kicked the merc in front of her square in the chest while Riddick slit the other merc's throat without hesitation. He turned and saw Deirdra kneeling on the merc's chest, her knife at his throat. She'd read his mind. They needed one alive to find out how they'd been found.

He marched toward them as he saw the merc struggling but Deirdra wasn't easily thrown. Riddick knelt down next to the man's head and slapped Deirdra's knife away to replace it with his shiv, but she didn't move.

"You made three mistakes," he growled. "First, you weren't very subtle…"

"Second, you came way too light," Deirdra smirked down at him. "And third…"

"You thought you could get the jump on us," Riddick finished as the merc glanced between the two in absolute terror.

"How much is it now?" Deirdra wondered. "Five mill? Maybe even ten? Hell, coming back from the dead has to have made him worth more."

"No one thought you were dead," the merc choked, Riddick's knife still on his throat. "But the price has gone up by another fifty. Two mill…alive."

"That means he gets one mill if he brings you in dead," Deirdra murmured in his ear and Riddick gave her a blank look.

"I know," he growled through clenched teeth and she shrugged as he turned back to the merc.

"What slam?" he snarled at the merc.

"Ursa Luna!" he whimpered and Deirdra couldn't help but frown as she looked at the back of Riddick's head.

"Wow, they must want you bad," she voiced as Riddick stood away from the merc.

"Take care of him," he ordered and Deirdra nodded. She shoved off of the merc as Riddick walked away but he stopped Deirdra from slitting his throat.

"Wait! Someone else knows you're here!" he shouted but Deirdra only smirked.

"Won't matter 'cause we're leaving anyway," she replied and wound up to stab him but he stopped her again.

"Riddick killed his brother! He won't stop till he gets his revenge!"

"Riddick's killed a lot of people, slick shit," Deirdra blurted. "What the hell does one guy matter?"

"Toombs was this guy's brother!" the merc replied, trying to save his own life. "Merc's name is Zain. He knows you're here!"

"Then we'll just have to leave nothin' but cold and snow pretty soon, won't we?" Deirdra smirked evilly. "Mind if we take your ship?" She didn't wait for a response before swiftly slitting the merc's throat then stood and walked toward the cave, sheathing her knife. "Didn't think so."

When she got back to the cave Riddick was already gathering up some necessaries and headed toward the entrance.

"Hurry up and get whatever you need out of your ship," he ordered.

"I have everything I need," she replied, patting her knife and he nodded. They headed out of the cave and found the merc ship wide open and ready for the taking. They hurried inside and Deirdra shut the platform as Riddick got ready for take off.

"So much for Riddick being dead," Deirdra muttered, walking toward him to lean on the pilot's chair where Riddick sat. "Where to now?"

"Drifting," he replied, simply. "Damn! All that damn brightness and I don't have a pair of goggles. Damn Vaako."

"If we land, I'm going off-ship," Deirdra told him. "Nobody's looking for me."

"Not yet, you mean," Riddick reminded her, gripping the helm. "Strap in."

Deirdra nodded and hurried into one of the seats meant for the crew. She couldn't help but recollect the one time she'd been taken prisoner on a merc ship. It had been with Riddick when they were running from the Necromongers. She had to admit, that had been kind of fun.

Riddick flew the ship into the air and piloted it out of the canyon, and soon, they found themselves in space again. He stared out the cockpit window for a while as they drifted a bit and Deirdra unbuckled herself from the seat to head toward him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stared at the space with him.

"Beautiful," she whispered into his ear and couldn't help but kiss his neck just below it. "I kind of missed it."

"Yeah," he grunted, seemingly unaffected by her kiss but she knew better. She knew exactly how to drive him crazy. He turned his attention to the console and tapped the screens to find the nearest system. Deirdra still hung around his neck, setting her chin on his shoulder and looking over the screens with him.

"The nearest system is Messer," he told her, even though he knew she could see. "Ready to go home?"

"That wasn't my home," she replied, standing to sit on the arm of the pilot's seat. "But it wasn't the worst place to stay either. Which planet?"

"We could go to that one you said you met the wind woman," he suggested, Aereon being the wind woman.

"I burnt a lot of bridges on that planet, let's not," Deirdra requested, running a hand over his shaven head as she looked at the screens. "Maybe Kalos. I spent a lot of time there."

"Alright," he nodded and set a course for the Messer System, planet Kalos. Deirdra leaned on him, her cheek on top of his head, her arms around his neck again as he set their course.

"That merc told me something I think you should know," she began and felt Riddick stiffen.

"What?" he asked.

"There's a merc out there after you for revenge," she replied. "He said his name was Zain. He said you killed his brother."

"His brother being…?" Riddick wondered, not that he actually cared or would remember.

"Toombs," Deirdra said and Riddick gave a chuckle.

"I did the universe a favor when I ghosted that asshole," he smirked, moving to look up at her with a cocky smirk. She didn't look happy, though. He could see it in her eyes, she was worried. Her hands stroked his neck softly as she stared her chocolate brown eyes into his shining gaze.

"Riddick, what happens if he finds you?" she murmured. "Revenge is a powerful thing. He may not be so easy to ghost. Adrenaline could keep him going for hours."

"Remember who you're talking to, Deirdra," he murmured back, a hand on her thigh. "I'm not so easy to ghost either."

"But Riddick-"

"Get some sleep," he ordered gently, turning back to the console to tap at the screens. She didn't know what he could be looking for. "You'll need your rest."

Deirdra sighed and placed her hand under his chin to bring his gaze back to hers. She pressed a kiss to his lips then whispered, "You too."

He only nodded and she stood from the arm of the pilot's seat to head for a chair and sat with a sigh. She should have known he would clam up like that. Ignoring her worry by pretending it was nothing. She always worried about him, even on hunts, and she wished there was some way she could help him. She wished there was some way she could see the world the way he did. As she drifted off to sleep, her mind suddenly figured out on its own how she could do that, but she quickly abandoned the idea.

He'd never let me do it, she thought with a yawn. If he got upset about my hair being shorter he'd be even more pissed if I messed with my eyes.

Riddick tapped on the screens looking through the recent wanted bulletins, hoping he wouldn't find what he was looking for. He couldn't let Deirdra be connected to him and hoped no one had put a bounty on her head as well, knowing they were associates before. He scanned through the news reports, the bulletins, and everything else that would have recent activity in the last few years.

Nothing. He found nothing with Deirdra's face, name or any other information on her. Letting out a sigh of relief he leaned back in his seat. If anything happened to her he'd kill himself, he knew it. It couldn't end the way it had with Carolyn, or Kyra. He wasn't going to let her end up in that category. Loved and dead.

If he was being honest, he hadn't really loved Carolyn, but he hadn't wanted her to die, either. He had been growing fond of her, but it could hardly be called love, now that he knew what love truly felt like. He'd known it with Kyra, and knew it with Deirdra, no one else.

He gave a small sigh again and turned to see if Deirdra was asleep yet. He heard her deep, steady breathing and couldn't help it when he stood and headed toward her to stand over her and stare. He often watched her sleep, something he thought he'd never do with any woman, but he couldn't help it. She was beautiful when she slept.

Carefully, he slid next to her into the seat and she stirred to scoot closer to him as he placed an arm around her. He could be with her now that he'd set the ship on autopilot. He had a feeling it would be a while before they could do this again so he pulled her closer as she snuggled her cheek against his chest. His hand drifted to her hair and he sneered.

Why'd she have to cut it so damn short? he asked himself before drifting to sleep himself.

A/N: oh...hell. lol! reviews?