Faith in the Darkness

~*~

Riddick was going to hurt him.

Jack dressed slowly, her lower lip between her teeth. She was confused and a little scared. She’d gone to Spike for revenge and to prove she wasn’t afraid. She’d expected to feel vindictive, to clench her jaw and pretend to want the degrading act that would follow. She hadn’t expected to feel desire. She sure as hell hadn’t expected the pleasure that had followed.

Her plan had worked. Riddick knew and there was a very real possibility he’d kill Spike, which proved he cared about her. That was what Jack had wanted, right? So why did the idea of it make her stomach queasy?

Opening the door and glancing down the hall, to make sure Riddick wasn’t waiting to ambush her, Jack slipped out of the bathroom. Hearing the rumble of male voices, she moved quickly toward the cockpit.

~*~

Spike heard her coming long before she appeared in the doorway. Jack stepped quickly into the room, her green eyes scanning the area and apparently relieved at what she found. Or rather, what she didn’t find.

“You have to get off the ship. He’ll kill you,” she said, without preamble. Spike raised an eyebrow.

“Hate to disappoint you, pet, but there’s nowhere to go. For the time being, we’re stuck here,” he said. “Besides, if you cared so much about my well being, why come to me at all?”

She ignored the question. “I don’t know what he’s doing right now, why you aren’t already bleeding, but it’s only a matter of time before-“

“He’s with Faith, Jack. They’re in the training room,” Angel said, softly and Spike watched the anguish fill those eyes, the hard swallow of the slender throat. His eyes narrowed. So, the girl still wanted Riddick, even after he’d rejected her. Interesting. Without another word, Jack clenched her jaw, turned away and left the room.

Angel looked at him and Spike raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“You slept with her,” Angel accused.

“I most certainly did not!” Spike retorted, watching Angel’s eyebrows knit in confusion for a moment before he grinned. “There was absolutely no sleeping. Just shagging.”

~*~

It was only a few hours later that Jack raised her head from her pillow, her eyes red and puffy from crying to hear Faith’s voice come over the ship’s intercom unit.

“This is your Slayer speaking, boys and girls, letting you know that our little prison break just made the headlines. We got pictures from the security cams on Crematoria, two very descriptive arrest records and a combined bounty of over 5 million universal credits coming over the waves loud and clear. Granted, most of them are on Riddick’s head, but the rest of us have our fair shares. Enjoy your flight, while you still can.”

The comm unit clicked off and Jack sat up, slowly. They were all wanted now, being hunted. She knew the mercs wouldn’t hesitate, not for that kind of money. There were probably already a half dozen or more in comm range. Biting her lip, she reached under the bed and pulled out her knapsack, where laptop and her small, handheld comm unit were hidden. She refused to listen to the small voice inside her that was screaming that Riddick would never forgive her for this.

~*~

Faith leaned against the shower wall, letting the heat sluice over her, washing away Riddick’s scent and her own blood. Her muscles were stuck in that after orgasm languidness and she didn’t want to move, therefore annoyance, more than anything, shot through her when she heard the door to the bathroom slide open. She turned her head to glare at the intruder and then her face went slack with shock. Angel stood in the doorway of the shower, wearing only his jeans, with a heat in his eyes she’d never seen.

“Angel, what are you doing?” she asked, softly, her anger swept away by the rush of confusion.

“There’s something I haven’t told you, Faith,” he said, one hand reaching out to trail a finger down her cheek.

“And what’s that?” she asked, without pulling away. This was Angel, after all. He’d never hurt her, not as long as his soul was intact, anyway.

“The curse. The Higher Powers removed it when I refused my reward. I can be with whoever I want.” His finger trailed down her neck, toward her breasts and she caught his wrist with one hand.

“Don’t,” she said, her voice shaky. “Riddick-“

“He’s a killer, Faith,” Angel said. “Don’t you see, you have a choice. You don’t have to stay with him, just for this.” He pressed against the hold she had on his wrist, his finger inching lower and she tightened her grip.

“No, Angel. He’s not a choice. He’s mine and I’m not leaving him. Not for you, not for anyone,” she said, levelly, realizing it was the truth even as she spoke it. Angel slowly pulled his hand back and she let him, releasing his wrist.

“So its final, then? There’s no way to change your mind?” Angel asked, his dark eyes studying her face.

“Yeah, Angel, its final. I’m staying,” she said, very quietly. After a moment, he nodded and walked out of the bathroom and Faith’s knees collapsed. She slid down the shower wall until she was sitting on the floor, the hot water pounding her as she stared at the drain, realizing she’d just said goodbye to the best friend she’d ever had.

~*~

“Slash And Burn, please respond, over,” came the voice over the comm. Toombs sat up straight in the captain’s chair where he’d been lounging. The voice sounded young and female. Strange for a voice like that to come across to a merc ship. Hitting the button on the console that activated the microphone, he answered.

“This is the Slash and Burn. Who am I talking to?”

“That’s not important, Toombs,” the voice responded and Toombs’ eyes narrowed.

“Who the fuck is this?”

“Like I said, it doesn’t matter. How’d you like to get your hands on one of the bounties from the Crematoria escape?”

“I’m listening,” he growled.

“Good. Here’s how this works…”

~*~

“A peace offering, huh?” Faith said, her eyes narrowed, as Jack led the way down the ramp. They’d landed just after dawn on a small planet at the end of the Helion system, a place known for its many merchants. Jack had been waiting when Faith emerged from the room she shared with Riddick. She asked Faith to come with her, just the two of them, to the markets, a girls day shopping, or some such idea. She’d called it a peace offering, hoping they could forget what had happened and try to be friends. Wary, but willing to try, to preserve the sanity of everyone on board the small ship who had to deal with the two of them, Faith had followed her out of the cockpit and to the ships door.

The two women walked down the ramp together. Both of them were slender with dark hair, high cheekbones and a surety to their movements that only came to those who knew they could take on anything that came their way. It occurred to Faith then that most anyone who saw them together would assume they were related somehow. Her lips curved into a smirk. If only they knew.

Faith browsed through the booths of clothing, artwork and trinkets, her fingers lingering on a necklace made of a black cord with a large claw tied onto the center of it. She pictured it against Riddick’s dark throat and smiled. Quietly, she pulled out the card Riddick had given her back on New Mecca and handed it to the vendor. The little old woman gave her a toothless smile as she swiped the card through her little machine that would extract the credits from it. If she recognized them as wanted persons, it didn’t show. Most likely, the people on this small planet got their fair share of criminals hiding out among them. Taking her card back from the woman, she slipped it into the pocket of her jacket, along with the necklace.

Jack was browsing through a rack of clothing, all of it hand made. The morning was getting warmer and Faith took of her jacket, waiting for Jack to finish looking, before the two of them moved on.

“There’s some food vendors near the end of the street. We should get some breakfast,” Jack said. There was something odd in her voice, but Faith stayed beside her. Her own stomach was growling insistently and food sounded good. Besides, she already knew she could take Jack down if something went weird.

“Go ahead and sit down,” Jack said, as they reached the food area of the market. “I’ll order us something decent.” With a nod, still watchful, Faith found a seat at one of the many tables in the small square, laying her jacket on the bench beside her. She watched Jack walk up to a vendor and speak to him in a language Faith didn’t know. Jack glanced back at Faith and the Slayer gave her a wry smile. It wasn’t returned. The look on the younger girl’s face was guarded, nervous and Faith’s smile slipped away, replaced with suspicion. Something was wrong. She saw Jack’s eyes lock onto something behind her and spun around. Before she could complete the turn, she felt the cloth come down over her mouth and nose and an arm lock around her throat. Clawing at the arm, Faith threw her body into the struggle, twisting and bucking, but her attacker didn’t budge and finally, the noxious fumes from the cloth over her mouth dragged her down into darkness.

~*~

“Why you doing this, kid?” Toombs asked, as he secured the restraints around Faith’s wrists. Jack met his gaze steadily.

“I have my reasons. She’s become an obstacle, a distraction for someone who doesn’t need distracting,” Jack said.

Toombs’ eyes narrowed. This girl, Jack, she was a known accomplice of Riddick. All the bounties from the Crematoria escape were thought to be traveling with him. Toombs looked at the unconscious girl, Faith and then back at Jack.

“You telling me I’ve got Riddick’s woman, kid?”

“Like I said, she’s just a distraction,” Jack repeated, watching Toombs rise to his feet and step away from Faith’s prone form. He moved closer to her and she fought not to take a step back, away from him. Holding her ground, she watched him walk around her, slowly, until he was behind her. Still she didn’t move, though she could barely stand to have him at her back.

“Look, just take her and go. The bounty is all yours, as long as you get her off this rock by nightfall,” Jack said. Toombs’ hand closed on her wrist and jerked her arm behind her and up to a painful angle.

“What if the price on her just isn’t enough? You know, you’re worth a little more than she is,” Toombs said, leaning over her shoulder, close to her face.

“That wasn’t the deal, Toombs. You get her with no fight and you let me go, that’s what we agreed on,” Jack said, fighting to maintain her calm façade, even through the pain in her shoulder.

“Well, see that’s the thing with mercs and criminals, Jackie-girl. We don’t always hold to our agreements,” Toombs said, just as the cloth came down over Jack’s face and the smell of chloroform erased her world.

~*~