Faith in the Darkness

“What do you mean, it isn’t sunlight?” Spike asked, incredulous. He waved a hand at the brilliant day just beyond the ship’s ramp. “If we walk out there, we are gone, dust, poof, that’s it!”

“This planet doesn’t have sunlight. Its daylight is controlled by the towers on Helion Prime, in New Mecca. All the light for this system comes from there. Their sun is so small that its light can’t go beyond Helion Prime,” Riddick said, pulling his goggles down over his eyes and stepping out, into the light.

Spike looked at Angel, who shrugged.

“Guess we just have to trust him.”

“Trust him? Doesn’t he want you dead?” Spike said, following Angel to the edge of the ramp, the edge of the shadows.

“Yeah, he does,” Angel said, looking at Riddick. He was watching them, waiting. “But he wants Faith and Jack alive and he might need us to get them.” Still looking at Riddick, Angel stepped into the light—and didn’t burst into flames. He released the breath he’d been holding and Spike looked sideways at him.

“Thought you said you trusted him?” Angel shrugged again.

“Doesn’t mean he wouldn’t kill us.”

With a roll of his eyes, still muttering under his breath, Spike followed behind as Angel and Riddick made their way into the crowd.

~*~

Faith ignored the smell of vomit and moved around the room, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. She’d managed to lower her hands behind her far enough to wiggle through her arms and have her hands in front of her. The room was some kind of storage space, from the looks of things and the only thing she found that could be helpful was a metal pipe, about two inches in diameter and somewhere around a foot and a half long. She swung it, hard and it made a satisfying whoosh in the still air. She glanced at Jack.

“Get up. We’re getting out of here.”

When Jack didn’t move, Faith stalked across the small space and grabbed her by the back of her shirt, dragging her to her feet. When she finally looked up, Jack’s green eyes were unfocused, her face pale. She was in shock.

“Fuck,” Faith muttered. “Wake up, Jack! Now!” She slapped the other girl, hard, leaving a handprint on that pale cheek, but Jack’s eyes snapped to attention, glaring.

“Let go of me,” she hissed.

“Then get your shit together. We’re leaving,” Faith snapped, releasing her with a little shove. Jack took two stumbling steps backward, and then found her balance. Faith was still speaking.

“I should leave you here, by all rights, but I won’t let Toombs have any leverage against Riddick. Now, you think you can get these doors to open?”

Jack moved forward, her fingers sliding over the wall, finding the small maintenance panel and prying it loose. She exposed a maze of wires and Faith watched as she picked through them, tearing this one loose, splicing it with that one, touching two copper ends together and making sparks, until there was a low buzz and the door slid open. Faith gave her a sideways look.

“Guess you’re not completely useless, are you?”

~*~

Riddick’s hand clenched in the thin material of Faith’s jacket, lifting it from the bench and bringing it to his face to breathe in her scent.

“They were here.”

Angel took the jacket from him, as Riddick continued to move around the square, searching for a trace of Faith and Jack. The vampire was searching through the pockets and came up with a necklace. It was a black cord with a wicked looking claw tied at the center of it and Riddick froze, staring at it. Angel held it out to him, slowly.

“Somehow, I don’t think this was meant for me,” Angel was saying, but Riddick barely heard him, taking the necklace and running his finger over the sharp underside of the claw. He knew this claw, knew it intimately. One just like it had sliced through him, had tried to kill Jack, had ripped Carolyn Fry from his arms in a night as dark as death itself. He wondered, briefly, where the maker of this necklace had gotten it, but dismissed the thought. It didn’t matter. He tied the cord around his neck and pulled the knot tight. The claw hung in the hollow of his throat and he clenched his fist around it for a brief moment before turning his attention back to his surroundings.

His gaze locked onto a flicker of white and he watched as a female Air Elemental made her way toward them. He felt the vampires go still behind him. They apparently knew what they were seeing, how rare it was. When she fluttered to a stop in front of them, she cocked her head to the side, her eyes flicking over all of them.

“Its a trap for you, Riddick,” she said, quietly and his eyes narrowed. “Though odds are you already knew that. His ship is docked in berth 17, under the name Solar Flare.”

He was already turning away from her, back toward the docks, when she spoke again.

“The Slayer will not die waiting for you to come save her. She’s a fighter and she’s strong. In this fight, however, there is a very good chance that she will die trying to save herself.”

~*~

Faith swung again with the pipe, narrowly missing Toombs’ face. The merc, more agile than she’d expected, and not tied at the wrists, dodged the blow a little too easily. Jack was at the panel near the door, doing her wire trick again, or at least, trying to. She’d whispered to Faith when they’d first reached this room that the main door to the ship would be much harder to crack. Faith had only nodded and turned to watch their backs.

Jack had barely removed the maintenance panel before Toombs walked into the control room. His face showed a flicker of surprise, and then something like glee crossed over his features. Faith’s eyes narrowed. She recognized that look. She’d seen it on her own face a time or two. He was eager for the fight. One of them would die and he was looking forward to it, no matter which way it ended up. It was a dangerous thing, that kind of bloodlust.

Faith kicked at his head and Toombs grabbed her ankle. She followed her momentum and used his grip as leverage to bring up her other foot, connecting solidly with the side of his head. He released her ankle, reflexively and she landed in a crouch, spinning to face him. Before she could complete the turn, she felt something slam into her shoulder, a white hot burning in her neck, heat flowing down her body. As she fell to the floor, she dimly realized the heat was her own blood, coating her skin. She heard Jack cry out, saw the light of day and three blurry forms standing in the doorway. She heard Riddick’s cry of rage, the sound of her name from Angel’s throat and Spike’s voice, “Bloody hell!” before she lost her grip on the world.

~*~

Angel put his hand over Faith’s wound, pressing down to stop the flow of blood from her throat. Riddick was across the small room, eviscerating the merc, Toombs, but Angel’s eyes were all for Faith. He could hear Spike speaking to Jack, but wasn’t listening to the words. He could hear Faith’s heartbeat slowing, growing weaker, as her blood pumped out from the wound. Toombs had nicked an artery, just barely, but it was enough to kill her if they didn’t get her patched up quickly. He felt rather than saw Riddick kneel beside him.

“Move,” came the growl and Angel thought about arguing. He thought about it and then he remembered Faith’s words. Her voice spoke in his head. “He’s not a choice. He’s mine.” Angel moved aside.

~*~

Her blood was so hot against his palm, but her skin was cold when he pulled her onto his lap, propping her upright. There was a void inside him, an unnatural calm that was filling his head like white noise. There was a flash of white at the edge of his vision and the cool brush of the Elemental’s hand on his face made him look up.

“You can save her. There is a way,” said that soft voice.

“Tell me,” he said, his voice sounding strangely hollow.

“You must join your life force to hers, take part of her injury on yourself. Together, the two of you are strong enough to survive this.”

“How?”

“We need your blood,” she said and he nodded. Strangely, he didn’t reach for his shiv, but for the claw at his throat. He yanked, snapping the cord and pressed that sharp curve into his palm, until blood welled to the surface, bright red, filling his palm like a cup, and then running over the sides. It was a deep wound, but no pain registered. Without instructions, he brought his hand to Faith’s lips, letting his blood trickle down her throat through her slightly parted lips. He saw her swallow, reflexively.

“Now you must say the words,” the Elemental was saying. Dimly, he heard the rumble of his own voice speaking words he’d never heard before, words that came from somewhere inside him that he didn’t know was there. He didn’t stop to wonder why the voice he heard sounded a lot like his beast.

“My blood to yours, your heart to mine. One soul and two bodies, together we are whole.”

~*~

Faith was floating and it was nice. The water was peaceful, warm and it was silent. Something flickered at the edge of her consciousness, but she shoved it away. Everything out there was bloody, loud and painful. It was safe in here.

Riddick.

His name whispered through her mind and she frowned. He was important. She struggled to remember, to understand, but the peaceful motion of the water washed the thought away.

One soul, two bodies… we are whole…

The whisper was louder, more insistent and she grasped at it. She fought to hold onto it and while she struggled, something smashed into her chest, tearing through her peace, turning the water hot, so hot. She screamed and felt herself rise, as if coming to the surface of the water and when she broke through into the open air, she opened her eyes and he was there.

~*~

He felt it like a physical impact, something slamming into his chest, through his chest and he let out a low cry at the sensation. A moment later, the flow of blood under his hand slowed and he felt a trickle down his chest. He raised one hand and felt the small wound on his neck, one that hadn’t been there a moment ago. He felt Faith’s chest rise as she gasped and her eyes opened. Her hand came up to grip his arm and he saw the puncture wound in her palm exactly like the one on his own hand. Her eyes were wide and full of both fear and amazement.

“Riddick, what did you do?”

~*~

Faith sat up, slowly, still a little shaky, but the wound on her throat was barely more than a scratch. She looked around, saw Toombs, his insides now on the outside. She saw Jack, pale and huddling near Spike. She saw Angel, looking amazed, the Elemental, impassive as always. And she saw Riddick, holding her, the blood trickling down his chest, the claw necklace clutched in one hand, his goggles tossed to the floor, eyes shining like mercury. She saw him and felt a pull from deep inside her, drawing her closer to him. Faintly, she’d heard them tell her that Riddick had joined his life force to hers, had given her a piece of himself in some mystical ritual that reminded her more of her time on Earth than anything she’d encountered here. From the man himself, she heard nothing. She didn’t need to. He spoke to her without a sound and he said one word.

Mine.

Slowly, she nodded.

~*~

“I came here searching for a Furyan, one of the few survivors of that great warrior race. A holy man from New Mecca told me about him. He was to be our last chance against a great enemy, the Necromongers,” Aereon was saying.

“Not my fight, lady,” Riddick said, his hands on Faith’s shoulders, her back pressed against the front of him. She leaned her head back, resting against his chest, letting his strength keep her steady on her feet.

Aereon shook her head.

“No, I don’t suppose it is anymore. However, given the strange nature of this group,” her gaze flickered over the two vampires. “the odds have changed. The chance is very good that the Necromongers could be defeated by another kind of champion. If I cannot bring a Furyan, odds are a vampire could do the job.”

“And what do we get out of this?” Spike asked.

“Shut up, Spike,” Angel said, with a long-suffering sigh.

“No, mate, I won’t shut up. This one here wants us to fight an army. I’ve heard of the Necros, heard about the way their tearing up the universe, destroying whole planets and such. No bloody way in Hell am I walking into that without something to show for it,” Spike said.

“The Necromongers have a law. You keep what you kill. Therefore, if you can do what we wish you to do, you can have anything you can take,” Aereon said, calmly and Spike smirked.

“Well then, when do we start?”

~*~