Being Simon’s girlfriend had taught Kaylee the basics of medicine, and she used all her knowledge to patch up River once they’d gotten back to camp and Riddick, the murderer, had finally let go of his grip on her and allowed Johns to take him to the ‘detainment facility’ as Johns had decided to call the little room where he’d been keeping him chained up.

Kaylee’s insides turned viciously as she got a better view of the cuts and obvious bite marks scarring River’s body, and the holes in her hands from where the teeth of whatever it was she’d fended off had sunken into her flesh.

Kaylee’s gaze went around them as she bandaged River’s hand, trying to stop the blood from flowing. While River had been biometrically enhanced to heal quicker than the average human, she still feared that the girl would bleed to death before her body could do its work.

Everyone was in an uproar, and they’d dismissed River’s ramblings as the words of a child in shock. They didn’t realize, of course, that River always talked like that---she’d hardly spoken after the crash. So while there was proof that something other than Riddick could be the cause of Zeke’s death and River’s injuries, they stubbornly wanted to put the blame on the murderer.

All except Shazza and Iman.

Maybe it was the fact that she was Zeke’s wife and knew that he wouldn’t go so easily and his body couldn’t have just disappeared as it had, and maybe she’d realized that when Riddick had held River it hadn’t been like a predator his prey----whatever it was, Shazza believed River’s version of the story.

Iman and his Chrislam students had listened to River ramble on and on once Fry and them had arrived, and the Holy Man said that in their Holy Book it spoke of devils that lived within the bowels of the earth, so her words could very well be true.

Paris, Fry and Johns were another story all-together though. They were all only too happy to lay the blame on Riddick, obviously the fear of something else out there was just too much for them to handle.

Paris huddled next to Jack, as if the young boy could defend him.

Fry was arguing with Johns, who’d just come from ‘questioning’ Riddick.

Making sure that everyone else were occupied, she turned her attention on the silent girl before her. “Was it the Great Danes?”

River looked up and nodded silently.

Kaylee’s stomach clenched. “Why didn’t they come out and continue their attack when Riddick got you out of their burrow?”

“Bats hide from the sun.”

Kaylee finished the bandaging and sat back. “They don’t like the sun?” She smiled when River nodded once more. “That’s great! Fry said that they found an abandoned village and that a machine there showed that the suns never set!”

“The suns cannot stay up forever, Kaylee, they would be tired and slowly fade away.” River whispered, hugging her knees to her chest. “The village didn’t decide to just swallow the people whose pain cries in my ears and nips at my fingertips.”

Kaylee’s smile disappeared. “You’re saying that during a certain time the suns will set?”

River nodded.

“When?” Kaylee placed her hands on River’s shoulders. “Do you know when the suns will set next?”

River’s large, dark eyes connected with hers. “I hear them yawning in the heavens.”

Kaylee’s blood ran cold. “I wish Simon were here.” She pulled away, hugging herself. “He’d know what to do—and he’d tend to you better. He’s a doctor.”

“My brother is afraid.” River admitted. “I feel his fear and worry for us. I am his stars and you are his sun, except you will never set or fade away. You are his light, and if his sun doesn’t shine, he fades into black, as do the stars who depend on the moon.”

Kaylee smiled at the poetic words. “So Simon’s the moon?” Her smile grew even larger despite the tears in her eyes. “Oh River, those were such beautiful words. Thank you.”

River looked up at her in surprise. “I speak no beauty, only truth.”

“And that’s what makes it so much more beautiful.” Carefully hugging the other girl, making sure not to hurt her more than she was, Kaylee wiped at her own tears when she finally pulled away. “I know you’re Simon’s Mei-Mei, but I want you to know that I never want to take him from you. He’s the only family you have, and I’d never separate you two, I just want you to be my sister as well so the three of us can be a family.”

River tilted her head in silence, just watching Kaylee. “I need not read the sincerity in your aura, but you are wrong.” Her voice was soft, as was the smile on her face. “Serenity is my family, she is my mother, and her children are my brothers and sisters. You are my Mei-Mei.”

Despite having strictly ordered herself not to cry, new tears fell. She’d needed that acceptance from River to be able to truly give herself to Simon without any guilt. “Thank you, Mei-Mei.”

River gave her one of her rare, truly breathtaking smiles before it turned to a frown and she looked passed Kaylee to Shazza, who sat on the floor by herself, looking at the war-pick in her hands. “Her aura is black and her thoughts scream painfully at me. She misses him and wants to join him.”

Kaylee frowned and took a look behind her at the nearly catatonic woman before returning her attention to her friend. “Suicide?”

River nodded severely. “Speak with her and quiet her thoughts.”

Kaylee nodded and got up, brushing off the back of her overalls, heading towards the silent woman and sitting down next to her.

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River slipped away from the others and into the room where they were keeping the creature Riddick chained to the wall. She frowned as she saw this. Riddick was not a creature in a zoo to be kept locked up and away from the others, he was a creature of the wilderness, which needed to be free.

She was surprised that his goggles were gone…but his eyes were closed.

“I see you got passed them.” His voice was dark and husky.

River jumped slightly in surprise, unable to understand how he’d heard her. After the attack she’d taken off her boots and returned to walking around barefoot, so she could be in contact with the planet and could now feel the vibrations of the creatures beneath the surface.

Going shoeless also made her light footsteps impossible to hear.

And yet he’d known she was there.

“Come to tell me of another gap?” He asked, giving a discreet sniff in her direction.

River blinked.

He knew her scent.

That was how he’d known she was in the room.

“The fox knows better than to underestimate the night wolf once again.” She spoke as she went to him and sat down next to his feet. “There will be no salvation unless he pulls the silver from his pocket.”

There was a dark chuckle as he tilted his head downwards towards her voice. “You always talk crazy?”

“Affirmative.” Having heard Jayne call her ‘moonbrain’ and ‘feng le girl’ since he’d met her, her sensitivity to being called ‘crazy’ had died a tragic death. “Once I was to be a prima ballerina, yet now the only dance I know the steps of is death.”

There was silence as he continued to tilt his head towards her. He suddenly turned away. “Yeah, well, you could say that’s the only dance I know too.”

She smiled, enjoying the feeling that he understood her. “This girl wants to thank you for saving her life when the Grim touched her skin and made her bleed.”

Riddick never got the chance to answer because Fry appeared that very moment, the sound of her boots against the metal of the floor giving away her presence immediately---as did her contradictory thoughts.

“River?” Fry asked, slightly uncomfortable yet worried for her. “What are you doing here? He’s dangerous.”

“Wolves run in a pack.” River answered solemnly, hugging her knees to her chest and taking her gaze from Riddick rested it on Fry, who seemed to be genuinely worried for her. “Even the solitary wolf will join or make one of his own, and to his pack be true.”

Fry frowned softly, looking from River to Riddick and back again. “Wolves were honorable creatures, River.”

“Honor comes in different manner shapes, sizes and tastes.” The younger woman responded. “And one is always given the opportunity to redeem ones self.”

And both women knew she wasn’t talking about Riddick.

Fry’s eyes watered slightly before she cleared her throat and nodded to River, turning her eyes on Riddick. “So, where is he?”

Riddick remained silent.

Fry breathed out a breath of impatience before trying once more. “Tell me about the sounds.” She took a step closer towards them. “You told Johns you heard something when River was being attacked.”

Riddick still refused to answer.

Fry closed her eyes in an attempt to control her temper and ran shaky fingers through her hair. “If you don’t talk to me, Johns’ll take another crack at it—at your skull, and while I don’t like you myself, if what River says is true, then we’re going to need to be prepared and need every hand we can get.”

“The stars shine brightly down, shine brightly right before the storm, yet those who watch cannot hear their warning, they need a soothsayer to interpret.”

Fry turned her confused frown on River.

Riddick smirked as he turned his head towards the dark haired woman-child next to him. “She said that she’s been trying to tell you but you just don’t understand. She wants me to tell you about the whispers.”

“What whispers?” Fry asked, frown deepening in belief.

“The ones tellin’ me to go for the sweet spot ---just left of the spine, fourth lumbar down.” Riddick’s smile was that of the Grim when death was assured. “The abdominal aorta. What a gusher. Had a cup on his belt, so I used it to catch a little run-off. Metallic taste to it, human blood. Coppery. But if you cut it with peppermint schnapps, that goes away.” He smirked at the disgusted look on Fry’s face. “Course, that’s more for winter. Summertime, I take mine straight.”

River shook her head at the black satisfaction Riddick got from his role as the Boogeyman. She knew that he’d decided that if fear was the only kind of respect he was going to get, he was going to grab some with both hands, but this was not the time to frighten them away.

She turned to Fry. “The night feeds on fear and it amuses him.”

“Thank you.” Surprisingly enough, Fry understood her and turned to glare at Riddick for playing her as a fool. “Why don’t we try the truth now?”

Riddick shook his head with dark amusement. “All of you people are so scared of me---an’ most days, I’d take that as a compliment---but it ain’t me you gotta worry about now.”

Fry gulped and turned to River. “The ‘dogs’?” She asked, referring to the name River had given the creatures.

The younger woman nodded.

Taking in a deep, calming breath, Fry turned her suspicious gaze on Riddick. “Show me your eyes.”

Riddick paused.

“The eyes are the windows of ones soul.” River quoted something Sheppard Book had once told her before his death at the hands of the Alliance’s Operative.

Riddick snorted, yet it sounded amused.

“Show me, Riddick.” Fry ordered.

Riddick was silent, his eyes closed tighter.

Noticing his muscles tensing as if in anticipation of pain, River tilted her head to the side in curiosity as she stood in a movement so swift it startled both Fry and Riddick—although the latter hid his well.

She was so close to him, could smell the feral, animalistic scent that he gave off, that was purely Riddick. It soothed a part of her that was always in fear, always on the alert. The young woman didn’t hear Fry telling her to back off, that Riddick was dangerous; she didn’t even notice that they were standing in front of each other with only a breath between them.

Once again her fingers made contact with the muscles of his arm, and those eyes flew open, startling her as they connected with hers so violently she forgot to breathe.

Her night wolf had no irises, just huge, black-pool pupils, and from within there was a jewel-like shine.

“Starlight.” She whispered softly, trailing her fingers up his arm and neck, up against his cheekbone to his forehead and down the bridge of his strong nose, all the while her eyes never left his. They were as beautiful and unsettling as a starved jaguar, and the look he was giving her seemed hungry and feral, yet she had no fear. It was as the stare of a wolf in the wilderness, watching her as prey yet not to kill.

Confusion as to what the heat between them meant caused her to remove her fingers from his face and take a step backwards, listening to the rapid beats of her heart and determined to have a serious conversation with Kaylee as to the meaning of this.

“You did this?” Fry’s soft voice cut into the moment, breaking the invisible thread that kept River’s gaze fixed solely on Riddick’s. “To yourself?”

River turned her back on Riddick and suddenly spied his goggles, where Johns must have left them after taking them off.

Riddick’s voice was tense when he finally answered Fry. “Fairly fuckin’ ironic, wouldn’t you say?” He made a sound of displeasure deep within his throat. “Slamlight’s so dim that you go and get your eyeballs taken out and shined up---then you wind up here. Three ass-kick suns.”

Grasping the goggles, River returned to the captive and kept her attention on the task of returning them over his eyes, feeling his gaze suddenly return completely to her, the return of the scorching heat between them, and when she stood on her tip-toes to fix the goggles completely, she felt him nuzzle her hair discreetly, taking in another whiff of her scent.

Blush covering her face, River quickly backed away once the job was done and touched a hand to her burning face, wondering why her body seemed to be overheating.

Riddick smirked at her and then turned to Fry. “Maybe I did do a few people. But not this one. Not this time.” He paused. “I would have killed Lil’ Crazy too if it’d been me.”

Fry glared at him. “Don’t call her that!”

While River was used to being called crazy, she was still shocked and surprised that Fry would defend her.

The blonde took in a deep breath before trying once more. “If you didn’t kill Zeke, where is he? He’s not in the hole. We looked.”

Riddick shook his head in derision. “Look deeper.”

“And beware of the dogs.” River whispered, gaze falling to her bandaged hands. Already she could feel them halfway healed, yet the memory of those jaws coming at her head caused her to go pale and wince.

Fry looked at both of them before giving River a nod and storming out.

The dark haired young woman turned to Riddick. “They will go to the burrow.” She told him. “She doesn’t want to believe, but she will.”

He watched her through his goggles in silent intensity. “Come here.” His voice was dark velvet as it caressed her skin, promising her so many things she couldn’t rightly understand.

“I---I---.” Not understanding what he truly wanted nor why she craved it, River gave up the battle, turned tail, and ran.

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“I don’t know what the hell is down there, but it ain’t DOGS!” Fry announced as she, Johns, Iman, Shazza and Jack returned from their investigation of the burrow in which Zeke’s life had been taken.

Kaylee looked up from a now sleeping River. The girl had come distressed to her some hours ago wondering if her ‘system’ wasn’t ‘shutting down’ or at least ‘overheating’ into ‘malfunction’. The mechanic had asked her friend to explain why she was frightened and why she thought she might be ‘malfunctioning’, and when the younger girl had told her in her own way, Kaylee had been glad for the first time since the separation that Simon wasn’t there with them.

He’d have gone insane.

Of all the men River could have found herself attracted to, it just had to have been a sadistic, cold-blooded murderer.

It’d taken an hour or two to explain the laws of attraction to a wide-eyed, childlike River, and while Kaylee wished that she could just tell River to ‘ignore it’, as Simon would have in this situation, Kaylee couldn’t bring herself to do it.

The Academy had stripped everything from River, forcing her mind to be like that of a child, and the fact that River was now showing sexual attraction only proved what Simon had been hoping---she was overcoming their programming and becoming as normal as she could.

And Kaylee wasn’t going to hinder her growth into the woman she would be just because her first attraction was for someone completely unsuitable for her.

Once they were found, Riddick and the others would go their way and River and Kaylee would return with their family. And, hopefully, River would find someone acceptable to have an attraction for and be with.

Not that there were a lot of choices lately on Serenity for her, the only single male just so happened to be the Captain.

Kaylee frowned at that thought. Sure, River was getting closer and closer to Mal each day, and he’d grown even more protective of her than he was of Kaylee herself, but, the Capt’n?

Shaking her head, Kaylee returned her attention to Fry. “What happened, what did you guys find?”

Shazza looked at Kaylee and shivered. While she was doing a lot better after their conversation, she’d still had a haunted look in her eyes when she’d left with the others. Now, that look was replaced with fury. “We found whatever killed me Zeke living under the earth.”

“And the spires are hollow.” Jack let everyone know as if this was a vital point.

Johns had a large frown on his face. Obviously he hated having to admit that Riddick had been right.

Fry turned to Kaylee and her face softened slightly when it fell on a sleeping River, but she returned her attention to the elder Frye. “Remember that thing I asked if you could do for me?”

“The adapting?” Kaylee asked, frowning.

Fry nodded curtly. “I need you to do it sooner than before. We’re moving out. Those things only come out in the dark and according to the chart in the abandoned town, we’ll soon be experiencing a solar eclipse.”

Kaylee’s heart froze, remembering River’s comment about the suns yawning.

“What are we going to do about Riddick?” Paris asked. He’d returned from where he was keeping his stash in time to hear what Fry had to say.

“We do nothing about Riddick.” Johns snapped out.

Shazza turned a glare in his direction. “Riddick didn’t kill Zeke, and believe me, while I don’t like the ratbag scum, I think we’ll need as many able hands on a weapon as we can get if the eclipse catches us unready!”

Johns glared at her, yet seemed to be considering what she said. With a curse, he turned around and stalked away.

“Everyone,” Fry immediately took control of the situation. “Pack only the essentials. We’re moving to the abandoned town, fixing the skiff, and getting the hell outta this planet before we become dog meat.” She turned to Iman. “I need your help to get the battery cells from the ship’s power bay.”

Iman nodded and followed her out.

Everyone hurried to do what they must, and Kaylee turned to a still sleeping River with a sigh, she hadn’t seen the girl rest in a while and really didn’t want to wake her up as yet. River had also told her that when she was healing her body would sometimes put her into somewhat of a self-induced coma to make the healing process quicker.

“Let her sleep for a while longer.”

Looking up, Kaylee was surprised to see Shazza. “Huh?”

“She’s injured.” Shazza pointed out. “Let her sleep a while longer and get her strength up. We’ll all need our strengths.”

Kaylee smiled her thanks and got up, giving a sleeping River another smile before hurriedly going to help the others.

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Riddick liked to be alone, he liked having time to think, but right now, he didn’t want to be alone. He wanted her there with him and he wanted to be unchained. There were so many things he could have done unchained to pass the time.

Tilting his head to the side, the murderer thought back to the reaction the animal within him experienced when she touched him, when it’d been able to look at her without the shield the goggles provided.

It’d liked what it’d seen, touched, smelt, and it’d wanted more.

What was it about that waif of a girl that he found so tempting? That made him hard with desire unlike anything he’d ever experienced?

A shadow fell on him but he didn’t look up, knowing who it was by the stench of cheap cologne and sweat. “Found something worse than me, huh?”

“We’re movin’.” Johns announced, hooking his thumbs in his belt. “And I’m just wondering if I shouldn’t lighten the load right now.”

What a coward. How had he gotten caught by the fucker again?

He raised his gaze and met Johns’ full on, letting him know that nothing the blonde could do could frighten or intimidate him. Johns ratcheted his shotgun and aimed it at Riddick’s head.

“Woof, woof.” Riddick mocked, defiant to the very end.

The shotgun exploded, but despite the fact that he was now partially deaf from the magnitude of the sound, Riddick was alive and well. The shotgun had discharged next to his head and blew off his wrist chains.

“Want you to remember this moment, Riddick.” Johns announced, in his superior-than-thou voice. “The way it coulda gone and didn’t.”

His ears were ringing and he was still partially deaf, not to mention thoroughly confused. “Say that again.”

“Here’s the deal,” A muscle in Johns’ cheek jumped. “You work without the chains, without the bit---without the shivs.” He took in a breath. “You help us get off this rock…”

“For what?” Riddick snorted. “The honor of goin’ back to some asshole of a cell?”

“Truth is, Riddick, I’m tired of this head-up shit. I wanna be free of you as much as you wanna be free of me.”

That caught the murderer unawares. “You’d cut me loose?”

“Only if we both get outta this alive. And there may be a way.” He smiled, obviously very proud of himself at the moment, as he offered Riddick his hand to seal the deal.

As he stared at Johns’ outstretched hand, Riddick thought of what he’d do without chains. Two were quite pleasurable. One involved offing Johns as painfully as possible, and the other didn’t have anything to do with pain and everything to do with a pretty lil’ crazy woman with long hair and big, dark eyes.

“My recommendation: do me.” He announced in his brutal honesty. “Don’t take the chance that I’ll get shiv-happy on your wannabe ass.” He looked back up from Johns’s still outstretched hand. “Ghost me, Johns. Would if I were you.”

“If you were me, I’d kill us both.” Johns snorted, talking as if to a child. “C’mon, you wanna sit at the grown-up table or what?”

A beat passed between them before Riddick reached for the still outstretched hand---and grabbed the shotgun with his off-hand. With a blur of movement he’d turned Johns’ weapon against him, and the blonde was looking into the eyes of his own shotgun.

“Want you to remember this moment.” Riddick announced before pumping the shotgun, spitting blue shells all over the other man.

Throwing the now useless weapon on the ground, Riddick turned and walked away, wondering with a smirk where his Lil’ Crazy was.