IV.

The merc called Simmons was furiously pacing in front of Riddick. He had hit him a couple of times to get him to talk about Hope but Riddick had even refused to look at him; he could beat him to death and he wouldn't give her away. Riddick knew that Simmons was losing patience with him; it amused him to watch Simmons lose control. His face was red heading for blue and Riddick could hear Simmons' heart beat too fast, fluttering; his blood pressure way too high, a drop of sweat was running down is temple. To pass time he envisioned an artery rupture in Simmons' heart, a ventricle explode; if he wouldn't ghost him the cardiac infarction would do the job. It made Simmons crazy that Riddick completely ignored him.

Riddick already had made his escape plans. He would get rid of the chains as soon as they were in space; no need to put up with a whole space port and the captured ship would be a welcomed bonus. He wondered if Hope was following his orders; but most likely she didn't. And as always he was right …

Riddick had sensed Hope the moment she had entered the ship. His woman! He couldn't help being proud of her. Even at that distance he could sense the rage she was radiating; and he knew a good part of it would be directed at him when she was done with the merc … now that would be an interesting fight to watch.

He already was looking forward to their fight; and a fight they'd have, he knew her well enough to be certain of that. She was sexy as hell when she was angry with him and didn't even realize it. He envisioned her standing in front of him: all ruffled feathers, glaring at him, hands fisted, 5.2 feet of pure Furyan rage. It always turned him on big time and more often than not it was nearly impossible to listen to her words when all he could think about was fucking her senseless. He licked his lips in anticipation. Yeah, it would be a hell of a fight and he was going to enjoy each second of it. He wondered what it would take to soothe her this time; a very smug smile crept in the corner of his mouth.

For the first time since they had chained him into the tube he looked up and in Simmons' face. First things first. "Poor dumb bastard. You don't know who you are fucking with." His voice was barely a whisper but was all the more frightening.

"Oh, he's got his voice back! Do you want to tell me something, Riddick? You can spare yourself a lot of pain if you tell me now where she is. See it that way: someone will find her and if it's me you can go to slam together." The merc actually thought he was getting somewhere with Riddick.

"Fuck you, merc." Riddick growled. As if he would be afraid of pain; Simmons had to be new in the merc business. "She'll find you. She'll get right up your ass and you won't notice until it's too late." Riddick had to grin at Simmons' facial expression.

Simmons' fist nearly cracked Riddick's nose when he hit him again. Blood was dripping out of Riddick's nose, running down his chin and soaking into his shirt but he just laughed out loud. "Patience, merc, patience."

Simmons had drawn his gun and held Riddick at gun point. "We'll see who gets the last laugh, convict!" he spit out … and froze in the middle of his movement.

"Would you mind if I'd join the game, boys?" Hope whispered in Simmons' ear, her shiv pressing against his carotid. "You may want to drop your gun now, merc." she suggested, adding a little more pressure.

Simmons tried to play for time faking confidence he didn't feel. He hadn't heard her approach; Riddick talking to him had been a distraction. "What if I just pull the trigger and then get you?"

"Don't mind if you shoot him, merc. As it is I'm a little bit pissed with him and I'll get my revenge anyways. And I don't think you can get me; it needed 5 of you with stun rifles to get Riddick and now you are alone and soon without your gun as well. But you can try, if you want." Her voice was chattily and made it all the more intimidating. "Now how do we play that game? I'm getting impatient." The shiv dug deeper, cut skin and draw blood.

"You two are a match made in hell, you are as loony as Riddick." he tried to distract her. With a sudden cry the merc dropped the gun and turned around. His fist connected with … nothing. Where Hope had been a second earlier there was nothing, just empty space. She had moved and the shiv in her other hand he hadn't even realized she had on him had cut deep into his upper arm.

Hope hadn't intended to end his life that early; she stepped away and watched Simmons. "Your compliments are wasted on me, merc."

Simmons swore and held his arm; blood was quickly leaking out of the gash. With a roar he stormed over to Hope, his own shiv drawn. He was too angry to see that she was just waiting for him to get closer.

Hope smiled welcomingly and waited relaxed for him to approach her. She knew what he was going to do as if he had told her … how uninspired. She blocked his hit, ducked under his arm and cut him again; this time her shiv was aimed at his thigh. The cut still wasn't deadly but was bleeding profusely and must hurt like hell. She was coldheartedly playing with him, paying him back for the pain she had felt when she saw Riddick lying on the concrete, fearing that he could be dead. For a second she asked herself where the kind Hope had gone, the Hope that wasn't able to hurt anybody.

Simmons leaned against the wall, trying to calm himself down and to regain breath. He hadn't expected the fight to turn out that way; he had seen a small fragile looking woman, an easy catch. But now she had cut him twice and didn't have the least cut herself. He should have known that anybody hooking up with Riddick had to be as crazy as he was.

Hope didn't lose focus on Simmons for a second. "What is it with you mercs? Why can't you just leave us alone? Why do you constantly think you can get us? And how many others of you do we have to kill that it finally will sink in that you should not mess with us? Too bad you will not be able to tell. And too bad you are no good company and I was taught not to play with your kind." she mocked him. "I for my part have enjoyed our little game. But I have to quit now." To her surprise she enjoyed the fight and the mind fucking with the merc to a certain extent; must be the Furyan in her.

Simmons had learned it the hard way and didn't get near her again. He could barely stand on his injured leg and the blood dripping from the cut already leaked into his shoes. His eyes drifted to the door; he was hoping for help.

Hope had followed his gaze. "Oh, I'm sorry. They won't come. Had to ghost them too." She let out a sigh. "Let's get it over with, merc, I'm getting bored. Come on now, don't fritter away my time." she smirked and in a lower voice as if to herself: "How does that saying go? …." She beamed at him "Ah, yes: Resistance … is futile."

At that time Simmons already was beside himself with rage. He didn't think anymore, was driven by pure hate; he just wanted to kill her. One of the crew members had been his brother and he wanted her to die for hurting his little brother. He forgot all caution and rushed up to her, roaring with rage and his shiv aimed at her, he didn't even feel the pain in is leg anymore.

She stood at the other side of the room, her arms at her sides, totally at ease. She knew she had to end it now; Simmons' sanity had snapped learning about his brother's death. With nothing left to lose he had gotten an unpredictable risk she wasn't willing to take. Hope's face was nearly remorseful when she went to meet him; her thrown shiv buried itself in Simmons' throat. His momentum let him make two further steps, let him nearly reach her, but then he stopped and remained stock-still for a second. It was not a beautiful sight when he started to gasp for air, getting none, he swayed and then stumbled and finally fell down on his knees. He stared at her wide eyed and collapsed; he was dead before his face hit the floor.

Hope stood there for a moment, staring at Simmons' corpse lying in front of her feet. She had done what she had to but it made her feel sick. She was disgusted with herself for her behavior, for her combativeness; she could and should have ended it the minute she stood behind Simmons.

Riddick hadn't said a word during the whole fight but hadn't missed a detail. Damn, he was so proud of her. Her movements and her handling of the shivs had been just perfect, her mind fucking with the merc … priceless; he couldn't have done it better. She had lost another hair tie and with her hair open she had looked like a goddess of war and without the chains he would have shown her right there how much he adored her.

Hope concentrated on the lock when she opened the chain on his right hand; she knew she would cave in if she looked at him now. She would not be able to stick to her rage when she saw his beaten face, she would be too relieved that he was alive to be angry anymore. She inserted the key into the lock of the other chain and turned around. "From here on you can handle it by yourself, I suppose." She left the ship without looking back.