Killer Instincts

~ As always, many thanks to the fantabulous Alaira for going over this for me and giving me her much valued opinions. You know you rock, grrrl *HUGS* ~


Chapter 5: Bad Company

Riddick stared at the animal on the co-pilot’s seat. It regarded him cooly in return, eyes mere slits as it almost dared him to say something, prompting him to grunt and return to the task at hand. “All that for codes, and you never even got them,” he muttered, reconnecting several wires beneath the console.

Beside him, Cat snorted, shifting in the swivelling chair. She didn’t know what he was complaining about. They had a ship, this one fully fuelled and ready to go. It was Buzz’s fault they were now delayed. Had he not threatened her with his pulse weapon, she might have kept her cool. She might not have changed and lost her speech, her ability to interrogate the survivors. It wasn’t as though Riddick couldn’t easily jack this ship, anyway. She knew he could. He’d told her as much already, and was in the process of proving it. Damn convicts, any excuse to mouth off, she thought, ears flattening back against her skull irritably. It wasn’t her best insult ever, granted, but under the circumstances it was the best that she could muster. Truth be told, she was impressed with Riddick, as well as with the effort he had put forth during the little skirmish outside in the anchorage. He was an impressive fighter. Cat liked that in a male.

Steady there, girl, she told herself. The sooner you chill, the sooner you get to stop being a zoo attraction, and thoughts like that will NOT help. She yawned, hopping down from the chair as Riddick made the right connections in the wires. The ship came to life, lighting up so quickly the big cat was taken totally by surprise. Now she was less keen for the change back to her humanoid form to occur. Lights this intense would be Hell on her sensitive eyes. As it stood, she was already in great discomfort. Closing them tight, she snarled, shaking her head savagely.

“You don’t like the light either, huh?” Riddick asked, almost smiling but not quite giving in to the urge. “Can’t say I blame you, eyes like that. Bet you see pretty good in the dark.”

Cat opened one white eye a fraction in response. After a moment, she shrugged, both shoulders rising from beneath that sleek black hide as effortlessly as they would have had she been human when the gesture was made. It would be better to play down her abilities. Especially now that she appeared to have a travelling companion after all. This wouldn’t be happening if she’d been able to turn her back on him. If she’d been able to force herself to let the Mercs have him. Why she’d fought to get him back was a mystery, even to her. She guessed part of it was guilt, selfishly using him as a means to an end. Another part was purely animalistic in nature. She’d caught him, bound him... then they had come along and taken her prey. It was unacceptable in the eyes of the woman; a fatal offense in the eyes of the beast. Nobody took what belonged to the beast.

Now there’s a thought, Cat almost laughed at her own, misguided way of thinking. He wasn’t hers. She didn’t want him. A convict had stolen her heart, it was true enough, but it certainly wasn’t this one. The beast, on the other hand... she hadn’t been out to play in a long time, and the prospect of what Riddick might be capable of in other fields was undeniably appealing. There was a fine line between Cat and the beast; at times there was no line at all. With Cat, love reigned supreme, but for the beast, it was all about the lust. Love and sex were two very different things, desperately craved by two very different beings.

Different. That was what Cat constantly tried to tell herself; why she hid her bizarre alter ego like a dirty secret, something to be to be ashamed of and feared all at once. Of course, there were just so many times she’d be able to use that excuse. Only so many times she’d be able to convince herself that was true. She and the animal, they were the same, not only because they occupied the same body. She was fully aware every time she changed, and while her primal instincts were heightened, the animal was not able to make her do anything she didn’t already wish to do. No, they were the same because everything the beast did, it did because Cat wanted it to.

The lights lowered with the twisting of a dial on the control panel, and Cat purred briefly in approval. Riddick could pilot, that was no lie; the files confirmed as much. Bold as neon it flared in her mind; ‘DANGER’. Yes, that was a danger. It was also a relief. Lacking an opposable thumb in this form made for somewhat difficult driving conditions. Cat didn’t trust Riddick; not any more than he trusted her, but for now they were stuck with each other. She had no option but to believe he would attempt nothing underhanded. A compromise would have to be reached, she expected. It could wait. She was in no mood to negotiate, and in her current state it was all but impossible.

As Riddick began to manipulate the controls, bringing the ship out of its berth with surprising skill, he glanced at the large animal now at his shoulder. It was watching him. No, SHE was watching. It was almost impossible to conceive that not a half an hour earlier it had been the enigmatic woman had met in the sleezy little bar. It was lethal; Ronco hadn’t lasted a minute under those claws, and Ronco had been a big man. Now she had what she wanted, and Riddick had a feeling he could soon become surplus to requirements.

Still, a voice nagged him. Would she try to kill him? Was she that sort of woman? Riddick didn’t know, and couldn’t afford to misjudge her again. Something had almost convinced him before the arrival of Ronco and his men that she hadn’t actually wanted to turn him in. Circumstances had left her no other alternative, though as he had spoken it was clear her resolve wavered. No, he couldn’t afford to misjudge her; to judge as all could be an even larger mistake. This one, he would have to take moment to moment. She knew things. Information other Mercs could never have known was no secret to Cat. Question was, did that make her a risk or an asset on this little adventure? Time would tell, and when two of a kind were locked away in space with no company but each other, time was never on your side. Sleep with one eye open, and hope the animal doesn’t get peckish, he thought with a smirk.

She snorted, shaking her head as he turned his attention back to the ship, and then she turned and walked away toward the door which would take her from the bridge to the rest of the ship. The only sound she made was a soft thump as her tail connected with the wall as the ship pulled away from the anchorage and began to climb higher into the sky. The corridors were narrow, too narrow for Cat’s liking but there was nothing to be done about it. There was a claustrophobic feel; like being in the cells again. A shiver ran through the beast, a coldness which began in the pit of her stomach and spread like a plague through her system. Her teeth throbbed once as the wave reached her head, a nauseous prelude to the dizziness that kicked like the home brewed liquor Shade had concocted one particularly dreary winter, exiled out in the middle of nowhere and bored to the point where even hibernation had seemed a valid method of defeating it.

Cat paused, all four legs splayed wide to maintain her balance until the dizziness passed, claws scraping across the cold metal floor. Shade; the only male in her pack and the one always assumed to be the pack Alpha. He was now, she expected. It wouldn‘t last. She would return, would take her rightful place, and all would be as it should. The beast growled, annoyed with herself for allowing her thoughts to dwell on her absent family. Home was a long way off; no point in allowing such childish, premature excitement.

The hallway ended with a large communal room, and Cat gratefully collapsed on a cushioned bench at the far end. It was an ideal vantage point, affording her a clear view of both exits. No escaped convict would be slitting her throat in her sleep, thank you very much. Cat would make sure of that. With a heavy sigh, the black beast’s eyelids lowered over tired eyes as she rested her head on massive paws. Her lip twitched once, as did her tail, and then she lay still and allowed sleep to claim her.

~*~*~*~*~*~

She was dreaming. Riddick knew from the second he spotted her. Sometime in the short space since leaving him to get them underway, Cat had reverted to her humanoid form. He wasn’t certain if he should be grateful or not. From what he had seen, she had a temper regardless of what form she took. Not too stable mentally, he would wager. Unpredictable. His head tilted slightly toward the left as he watched her sleep. Reflective eyes took in every tiny frown, every twitch of her brow as some unknown movie played out for her alone.

He took one step closer, his booted foot making little sound on the floor. On the bench, Cat bared her teeth, fingers curling as she snarled with pure rage. Riddick paused, waiting for her to settle again before moving on. He wanted to wake her. Getting gutted as she acted out some nightmare didn’t play a part in that.

As he made his approach, one hand reached out to shake her gently awake. It never reached her shoulder. Those eerie white eyes flew open as Cat instinctively grasped Riddick’s wrist in an iron tight grip. He might have expected that from someone like her. Their kind, they slept light. He didn’t, however, expect the blood curdling scream which accompanied her return to conscious thought.

Alabaster eyes darted around the room, falling last upon the connection between herself and the convict. “Sorry,” she muttered, releasing him as she remembered where she was. Remembered she was finally on her way home. “What do you want?”

No explanation then, Riddick mused. Fine. He wouldn’t push for one. Her nightmares were none of his business. “Co-ordinates,” he said simply, not moving away from Cat, but folding his arms over his broad chest as he waited.

“What?”

“Co-ordinates,” he repeated. That cocky little smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth as he settled back in his stance. “Or do you want me to guess where we’re headed?”

Understanding crept into her eyes. She rubbed the tiredness from them and answered, “Right. Those co-ordinates. I‘ll do it myself.” She pulled herself to her feet, finding she could use a few more hours rest. Her limbs felt stiff and clumsy. Cat wasn’t used to stiff and clumsy. She stretched her body to loosen up, a strange sort of mewling escaping her as she did.

“Don’t trust me?” Of course she didn’t. He just wanted to hear her confirm it.

“Not as far as I could throw you, and that would be pretty far.”

“Pretty sure of yourself.”

“I’ve got every reason to be.” She raised an eyebrow, returning his self-assured smirk as she moved past him and into that claustrophobic corridor once again. Grin and bear it, and get to the other end as quickly as possible. Easier said than done when Riddick was breathing down her neck. The last thing she wanted was for him to believe she moved so quickly in order to avoid him. The balance of power had yet to be established, and she would not concede to him in advance.

“You’re a dog,” he commented after several moments accompanied only by their footfalls.

“I hardly think insults are necessary, Richard,” Cat shot back. She knew full well what he referred to. She also knew he didn’t like complete strangers using his given name. Too bad for him. Miss Manners was not filed away amongst her many and varied programs.

“Could be a long flight. I like to know who I’m travelling with. You tell me you’re a Venutian elemental, okay. I buy that. Don’t add up though, Cat. Venutians are dead, and I never heard of one doing what you did back there.”

“Yeah, well, you’re people are supposed to be dead, too. I told you what I am, and that’s all the explanation you need. I’ll drop you off somewhere nice, somewhere the Mercs won’t be so likely to find you.”

“Now, you see that’s another thing. I’ll be dropping you off. Don’t much care for the idea of having to jack another ship when I’ve already got one.”

Cat stopped, turned and looked up at the convict. His face could have been carved in stone for all it revealed. “Oh really? And if I say ‘fuck you’ to that idea? Just how do you plan to enforce it? You know what I can do to you.”

Riddick laughed, not that offending bray from the bar, but more easily and amused. He was on her in a heartbeat, his large hands pushing her wrists secure against the wall. His well defined body pressed up against her slight form, head lowering until they were nearly eye level. She was playing his game, he realised instantly. He’d seen a fraction of her power when she’d taken him prisoner; was well aware she could throw him off her at any moment. Perhaps ‘playing’ wasn’t the right word for it, he amended. She had that curious look of a predator waiting to see what a wounded prey animal would do next. He wasn’t going to be her prey.

He had determined to make this known to her when he realised her breathing had picked up. The quickened pace confused him slightly, though his face remained loyal and did not betray this. That was good. Instinct caused his body to tense as her right leg moved outward. He prepared for her counter-strike, expecting anything. It never came. Instead, her liberated leg slid upward, tight along his own until her knee rested level with his waist, her lower leg snaking around him so that her foot could hook around behind him.

What was she doing? The expression she wore had changed, though it was slight and barely visible. Curious was mingling with something else, something he had seen in the black animal’s eyes. Something akin to lust. This wasn’t the same however, and Riddick knew it. This was no blood lust, this was a far more primitive drive.

Using her hold on him as leverage, Cat rubbed against her captor; slow, rhythmic, teasing and breaking down his bid for power. It was a cheap shot, she knew it. She only wished she’d had the foresight to predict this flame the intimate contact had ignited within her. She blamed the beast, always needing yet so rarely taking. Cat’s love was for another, but the primal force that dwelled within her wasn’t looking for love.

When she felt his body begin to respond to her movements, a small sigh escaped her. She hadn’t meant for it to. Excited chills ran through her, each nerve a hair trigger set off with every slight shift in his weight against her, with every warm breath he exhaled onto her pale skin. When something so subtle could affect her so dramatically and so quickly, she had clearly gone too long without physical intimacy. Damn the animal side! This had to stop. Now.

Pulling her leg away, Cat yanked her wrists free from his grip, ducking under his arm as she sprinted the remainder of the distance to the bridge. Not a single backward glance was permitted as she fled. What was she thinking? SHE was in charge here, not her libido. She had only intended to show him that even he was just a man; one who could be swayed as easily as any other man might be. At what point had that demonstration gone so wrong? What was he going to expect of her, now that she had done nothing but prove she was just as easily manipulated?

An angry scream ripped from her lungs, and she slammed her fists into the metal door separating her from the bridge. It slid open on contact, depositing her in a heap on the floor as she lost her balance. She screamed again, beating at the unforgiving floor until her abused skin had cracked and blood smeared across the metal where she struck it.

Strong arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her up as she howled. Those arms held her tight, allowing her to release her aggression without harming herself further. Oh yes, Riddick thought, there was definitely something very wrong with this woman. She wasn’t unstable in the manner he had previously suspected, however. She was lost, and she was angry; two things he understood all too well, even if he made a constant effort to conceal it. Whatever had happened to her, it was driving her over the edge.

Riddick could only wait and hope she would calm as she approached her destination, and that she didn’t drag him over that cliff with her.

~ Took me long enough, didn't it? I'm a busy lady, but my life has now relocated its groove. This is of the good. Means I've got more time to write, whether it be actual work or the fun stuff. Aka, this. Leave me a little feedback, it only takes a moment and it makes for one happy author. Happy Author = increased motivation to write = faster updates. Who can argue with an equation like that? ~