XXVIII.

And finally she was finished. She was completely worn out but more than satisfied with her work. She had done everything within human power and some more to patch up Hope; in fact she had done an extraordinary good job, nobody else would have been able to accomplish such a delicate operation. Time to talk to Riddick.

"Riddick, do you hear me? Riddick?"

"Talk!"

I'm finished. Can you come back?"

"How is she?"

He could hear a deep-drawn sigh and for a second the same fear as before tried to rip up his heart, it was hard to focus on her next words.

"Her condition is serious but she's holding on; she needs you at her side now." She had still major doubts that Hope would make it, but she didn't tell him that.

"I'll finish here and be back in 20." He turned to the merc and moved up to him.

"Riddick, please, have mercy."

Riddick just laughed. "Mercy? Don't know what that is, merc." His hand caught the merc's shooting arm and twisted it until the shoulder dislocated. The hurt let vomit pool in Mitchel's mouth, black dots were dancing in front of his eyes; he hadn't even left the strength to cry out, all he still managed to get out was a small whimper.

"Liked that? Eye for an Eye, merc; and you still are much better off than Hope, but I have to leave now."

The merc tried to say something but no words came out, Riddick's fist was closed too firmly around his gorge. He stared straight in Riddick's eyes, silvery pools of pure Furyan rage. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the sudden movement of Riddick's arm; he was relieved when the pressure on his gorge ceased and surprised when Riddick stepped back. For a precious moment he actually thought he'd come out of this alive.

Riddick's knife was that sharp he didn't feel the pain in the first moment, agony set in when he looked down, seeing his guts spill out of his opened abdomen. In a fairly futile attempt he tried to stop them from pouring out, tried to put them back in again but they continued to slip through his weakening fingers. His whole body convulsed, the pain made him gasp, squished the words he tried to get out and his knees started to give in. The last thing he saw was Riddick bending down to him, whispering; he had difficulties to understand the words, spoken in a voice that cold they seemed to come straight out of the depths of a glacier.

"And now imagine the pain you'd have to endure if she'd have told me that Hope didn't survive surgery."

Riddick watched the merc and admired his handy work; the merc actually looked like one of those dummies they had used during ranger training. He saw the merc's final struggle with deep satisfaction, the beast in him already calmed down. He wiped his shiv clean on the merc's shoulder, completely unperturbed by the horrified expression on the dying merc's face.

His clothes were mostly clean but his hands were covered in dried in blood, he had to clean up before he went to Hope and he had to get rid of that dead merc smell, he didn't want to bring that stink back to her.

The suite was equipped with a sonic shower and he stepped in fully dressed, let the sonic pulse vibrations remove the blood and the smell of his killings. Though it didn't remove the deep satisfaction Riddick felt slicing up Mitchel had given him.

He found Serenity sitting at Hope's side. Serenity looked extremely exhausted and Hope a tad bit better than a few hours earlier; Serenity had even gotten all the blood out of Hope's hair and it laid in a thick shimmering braid on the pillow.

"She looks fine, when will she wake up?"

Serenity stood up and handed Riddick the flexi she had toyed with for the last half hour. "Riddick, it would be easier to tell you what hadn't needed surgery." She took a moment to compose herself and then continued.

"Her inner organs should function again, her blood loss is balanced, she doesn't have any brain damage, her shoulder is fixed and her broken bones are mended and I have taken care of each cut and each bruise, but it's been a massive trauma for her body. At this point I can't do anything more; nobody could. It's up to her now. But don't let your hopes get up too high … you should keep in mind that she was in no good condition when she arrived here; she was totally exhausted and on the verge to malnourished. I simply don't know how much strength she has left to fight."

That was so not what Riddick wanted to hear. "She's a fighter, she'll make it." She had to; he wouldn't let her go now that he finally had caught up with her, now that he had decided to talk to her, to tell her how he felt. No, she wouldn't leave him. Not now. Not ever; it simply wasn't an option.

"Riddick, are you sure you don't want to take her to a hospital? We take her there under her fake ID and nobody will recognize her, I'll make sure of that."

Riddick shook his head no. "They can't do anything for her you haven't already done, now can they? Maybe being at home will help."

"Already thought so. Well then, I've talked with Taylor and Jeff and if it is all right for you I come with you to take care of her on the flight. They'll follow us with Julie and Dylan in Jeff's ship as soon as they've packed up everything. What about the mercs?" The expression on Riddick's face let her shiver; all of a sudden she didn't want to know anymore. "Never mind."

Riddick cocked an eyebrow seeing her reaction. "They have been taken care of. You still sure about coming with us? If you are so easily offended I strongly suggest you better go with your husband; we'll be fine here." He shoved her out of the hatch. "I'll transfer coordinates, come as soon as you are ready." He didn't give a fuck whether they followed them or not, all that mattered was getting Hope home to Furya.

Serenity hadn't the chance for a reply, the hatch already had closed behind her. With her mouth agape she stared at it for a whole minute before heading home. "Thank you for your help, Serenity, thank you for saving Hope, Serenity" she muttered under her breath. But being honest with herself she had to admit that she was relieved; Riddick scared her shitless and she didn't like being separated from her family for too long. And with her help they would be able to leave much faster.

After setting course and autopilot Riddick sat down beside Hope, he was glad that he finally was alone with her. He sat at her side during the whole flight, only leaving her to check on the engines or to grab some food he ate in sickbay. He never stopped talking to her … he told her about things he assumed she'd want to know, things he never told anybody else before. About his youth, about Kate, how he felt after her death, how much it had helped blowing up that merc's ship (**). He told her how he became that wanted convict and a murderer and he told her how sorry he was for leaving her, that he intended to never leave her again, no matter what.

They reached Furya in record time; Hope would have his head if he damaged the core … she wouldn't see the need of his hurry, but he'd gladly deal with that if only she'd wake up in the end. He had transferred the data from Serenity's flexi to the Defiant's computer and the Defiant would now continuously check on her. Her vital signs remained at the same low level all way back; nothing had changed when the picture of the beautiful, blue-green orb of Furya and its two moons appeared on the view screen.

(**) chapter XXXI of 'Defiant'