A Wish Is A Dream The Heart Makes.

Chapter nine: A Village Of The Dead.


Xander watched the other survivors as they loaded up a sled, none of them had apologized for thinking him a murderer. Even though Fry had proved he was innocent. Only Imam was making no effort to avoid them. He supposed that his willing closeness to Riddick was the cause of that, he could scent the other's fear of Riddick and found it... strange after all, all they knew was he was a murderer. He had not threatened any of the others, well except Shazza, but that was a protective thing not a threat for no reason! He wasn't that bothered that the other's were now frightened of him, in fact he found it... a novel experience he didn't think that anyone had ever looked at him with fright before. Once the sled was filled with what the others had decided they needed Johns called them over and gestured to it. Obviously telling Riddick to start pulling, something that Xander thought to be rather unfair; after all none of what the sled carried belonged to either him or Riddick.


Riddick just snorted and gathered the rope and chains up looping them over his shoulders, digging into the sand he grunted with the effort of getting the sled moving, Xander gave it a push trying to add his strength to the effort. It started forward suddenly almost landing Xander on his face in the sand, as Riddick passed Johns he sneered,


"I thought the agreement was no chains?" He pushed on without waiting for a reply. Xander hurried to keep up with him remembering what Riddick had asked of him earlier. They all walked in silence for a while before Shazza spoke to Johns,


"So. Click your fingers and he's one of us now?"


"I didn't say that..." Johns laughed at the thought, "but at least this way, I don't have to worry about y'all falling asleep and not waking up."


"So, can I talk to him now?" Jack piped up, eagerly, Xander looked at her and muffled a snort of laughter, 'he' now wore shades similar to Riddick's, tied around his head. He did laugh at the unified "No!" from Shazza and Johns. Glancing back at Riddick he could see he looked amused too. The survivors fell silence again, Paris hefted his bag of belonging higher on his shoulder, walking on for several steps before realising the thud he'd heard had been one of his bottles of wine he swore lightly before turning to pick it up. Riddick had watched the bottle fall and after winking at Xander had shrugged out of the make-shift and strode forward reaching the bottle just as Paris slid to a halt in front of it. He leant down and scooped it up, towering over the intimidated man who gulped at being so close to The Riddick.


"Paris P. Ogilvie." He said scrubbing a sweaty palm down his top before shakily offering it to Riddick, "Antiquities dealer, entrepreneur."


Riddick stared at him for a moment before firmly grasping the hand in front of him and saying with a smile, "Richard B. Riddick. Escaped convict, murderer." It was exactly how Xander had heard in his dream, although seeing the increased fear on Paris' face at Riddick's casual referral to murder was very entertaining. After a quick smirk at Paris, Riddick raised the bottle he'd picked up and after removing the cork went to drink, Paris looked horrified,


"That's a particularly good Shiraz." He stuttered out, "It's a lovely drop." Riddick started to drink it down, "It's very expensive." Riddick didn't react and Paris continued feebly, "By all means, help yourself." Riddick dropped the empty bottle to the sand and turned to saunter back to Xander and the sled. Xander spent the rest of their journey telling Riddick about some of the things he'd been through, living on the Hellmouth.

It took them roughly an hour to reach the abandoned town, Xander stayed close to Riddick; the deadness of the town unnerved him especially after passing through all the skeletons. Imam and his boys went to the water pump and worked to get it going, Fry grabbed the power cell that Imam had carried and along with Shazza, went to begin the system checks on the small space craft the had earlier discovered Johns stood at the open door of the craft and watched Riddick before turning and walking into the ship in response to something Fry said. Reaching out Riddick slung an arm around Xander's neck and hauled him in close, whispering to him huskily,

"Let's look around; these people tangled with something, too much has been abandoned for them to have left. I want to know what we'll be up against."


"I know; I'm getting that feeling I normally get just before something Hellmouth-y happens. I really don't like this place Riddick." Riddick pulled him closer for a minute, to reassure him before releasing him.


"Like I said earlier, stay close."


The two of them made their way cautiously through the settlement looking for any clue about what had happened to the missing people. Slowly they found hints that people had fled towards one central building as they went they both became aware that they were being followed. Xander heard Jack whispering and he thought he could smell the littlest survivor Ali he thought the boys name was, with 'him'. He didn't call them on it though; he could tell that Riddick was rather amused by their daring. He watched, as they reached the big metal doors to what was labelled the coring room, Riddick approached them and shook them, they were chained together from the sound of things. From the inside. Xander was beginning to NOT want to know what had happened to the missing people. Riddick peered through the small window,


"Nothin' looks out of place. Too long ago to be able to tell what happened."


Xander glanced around in time to see Ali crawl through a hole into the room seeing the rapidly disappearing boy gave him the same sick feeling he'd had when he'd watched Zeke enter the cave,


"Ali! No!" the boy paused for a moment and to Xander's relief edged back out, looking at Xander in bewilderment. "Don't go in there. It's dangerous." The boy just continued to stare at him not understanding what he was saying, so Xander pointed at the hole behind him and frantically shook his head Ali looked between Xander and the hole, understanding what he was being told and nodded after saying something in Arabic before running off towards Imam. Xander sighed in relief and sagged against Riddick. He heard a whistle from behind them followed swiftly by Johns' calling out to Riddick; they turned to see him patting his leg as though calling a dog to him,


"You're missing the party. Come on boy."


Riddick glared at the man briefly before giving Xander a slight push in Johns' direction and starting off behind him; almost as an afterthought he reached up and snagged the covering from the nearby machinery and tugged it down getting a gasp of surprise from the newly revealed Jack. Smirking he repeated Johns' words to the 'boy' in a mocking exaggeration of Johns' drawl before stalking forward to catch up with Xander.


They followed Johns quietly to the building the other had set up in; Imam was praising Allah for the water that Paris was poring into a set of crystal goblets. When they entered Paris glanced up and did a rather comical double take, Xander wondered what the fuss was until Jack emerged from behind Riddick and made 'his' way forward to grab up a glass of water, making Xander's jaw drop in shock. Now in addition to the goggles from earlier some how the kid had managed to shave 'his' head! All the survivors just stared at the 'boy'


"What?" Jack said unnerved at all the attention.


"It's the winner of the look-alike contest" Paris said gesturing at the mini-Riddick. Xander was amused, at first until he caught the glances Jack was shooting towards Riddick, that and the scent of interest he could smell coming from 'him' was sending all his instincts into overdrive. Completely unaware he was doing so he began to glare at Jack, growling threateningly warning the upstart not to mess with what was his. Jack to his growing fury seemed to take no notice of his warning her off. Xander started growling louder, not noticing the uneasiness he was causing in the others. Riddick stepped closer to Xander placing his arm around him tightly; the growling subsided slightly but didn't stop,


"Hey kid, Jack... Back off." Jack merely stared at them confused, Riddick was tempted to roll his eyes, surely nobody was that clueless, "Xan's not appreciatin' your challenging him. For me. Understand?"


Jack began to blush, "You mean you're..." 'he' gave a gesture, "Y'know, together?" 'He' squeaked and gave another wilder gesture. Trying to put words around it, the others began to watch in amusement at Jack's discomfort. Xander stopped growling as Riddick grinned slightly and nodded.


"Oh..." Jack looked at Xander apologetically, "Sorry Xander."


"Sorry," He shrugged, "but my instincts got the best of me, I didn't mean to frighten you."


Jack opened 'his' mouth obviously going to ask what his instincts had to do with anything; before 'he' could Paris turned and spoke to everyone,


"Who were these people, miners?"


"I think they were geologists, you know? An advance team, moves from rock to rock." Shazza said showing him several rock samples she'd found,


"Nice of them to leave so much stuff here." Fry moved closer to the group before she continued, "Why'd they leave their ship?" The survivors froze at that question, uncomfortable with the implications.


Xander watched as spoke up trying to dismiss the question but he didn't pay him much mind he was more interested in watching the increasingly concerned Imam, he tuned back into the conversation when Riddick spoke up though.


"These people didn't leave." He snorted at them, "Come on! Whatever got Zeke got them. They're all dead." he tugged Xander closer for a moment before straightening and adjusting his shades, he continued in a slightly mocking tone, "You don't really think they left with their clothes on the hooks, Photo's on the shelves?"


"Maybe they had weight limits." Shazza said glancing around her uneasily, "You don't know."


Riddick smirked at her, "I know you don't prep your emergency ship... unless there's a fucking emergency."


"We looked around, and all the signs we found said that people fled, in a hurry." Xander injected into the tension filled room, "From what we could tell they went to the central building. The coring room. It was chained... from the inside."


"Has anyone seen the little one? Ali?" Imam interrupted, looking around the room worriedly.


'Oh god!' Xander thought, 'Please don't let him have gone back in that room' He cast a quick glance at Riddick who gave him a slight nod,


"Did you check the coring room? My boy called him back from it earlier."


Xander turned and with a burst of speed that surprised them all except Riddick, snatched the gun from Johns' hands and tore out of the room towards the central building, Riddick and the others followed him. They heard a child screaming followed by a gunshot and Riddick blurred in front of them and was gone.


Xander ran as fast as he could, he'd just reached the doors when he heard the boy scream and raising the gun he blasted a hole through the doors and the chains holding it, racing in he found a swarm of vicious looking winged creatures diving towards a now frozen Ali, dropping the gun, he ran forward and dove at the little boy, knocking him to the ground then shielding him beneath his own body. He braced himself for the pain he knew was about to come hiding his face in the ground to protect it. The creatures screeched and dove he felt the raking of their claws on his back and stifled a cry of pain, the creatures soared upwards then they began another dive, before they came into contact with him, he heard a roar of absolute fury, Riddick had arrived. The next thing he heard was the blasting of the gun and the screeching of the creatures and then all was still. Xander lay still keeping his head down, resisting the urge to look up until Riddick told him it was safe. His instincts served him well as he felt the creatures dive low again, passing just above his prone body before disappearing with more screeches past him and away. He heard Riddick come towards him and shifted to allow the smaller form of the boy beneath him room to breath. The rest of the survivors arrived with Imam in the lead just as Riddick reached him, bending and scooping him up as if he weighed nothing careful of both his arm and his wounded back. Xander relaxed as much as the pain would let him turning his face and burying it into Riddick's chest,


"Ouch." He whispered softly, "Is Ali okay?" He looked towards the sobbing little boy that Imam had clutched to him,


"Ali is fine, thanks to you, I am... grateful for your actions." Imam looked up at Xander, "I hope you are not badly wounded, my young friend?"


Xander shrugged, "I don't feel too bad, I know I jarred my arm again, Riddick put me down and take a look." Riddick clutched him tighter for a moment before lowering his feet to the ground and letting him stand. Once he was sure Xander was steady he gently turned him and eased his shirt's up,


"You were lucky Xan," Riddick said relieved at what he could see, "it's not too bad, four, no five shallow cuts, they're only bleeding slightly. It looks like your clothes caught the worst of it." He lowered Xander's shirt and turned him back around, "How bad's your arm?"


"It's okay Riddick. Just reminding me that tackling someone with a broken arm is not a good idea! Where did those things disappear to?"

Riddick gestured to the centre of the large room, "Down there." They walked over to inspect the large hole in the floor; Johns pulled a flare from his belt and lit it before tossing it down. It fell quickly, revealing brief glimpses of skeletons caught on the uneven walls of the hole, before it landed far blow them in what seemed to be a large cavern. They stared down at what appeared to be hundreds of human bones, picked clean of flesh and illuminated by the sickly green light of the flare.


"The other buildings weren't secure," Riddick set his foot on the edge of the hole leaning over for a better look, "so they ran here. Heaviest doors." He glanced over at the others, enjoying the fear on their faces. "Thought they'd be safe inside, but they forgot to lock the cellar." He finished, before moving to let Xander lean tiredly against him.


"Look, whatever the fuck those things were," Johns said to Fry who seemed to be searching for something amongst the samples the geologists had left, "they seem to stick to the darkness. If we stick to daylight, we should be all right, okay?" He turned to leave the dark building, "Let's go."


"Twenty-two tears ago." Fry murmured absently.


"What?" Johns turned back reluctantly; Xander could tell he really wanted to get outside.


"These coring samples are dated. Last one's twenty-two years ago this month."


"Is there something special about that, Carolyn?" Xander shivered at the way he spoke her name, he could sense that Johns mask was starting to slip, letting the killer peak through in his fear. Xander was again put in mind of Angelus, but Fry never noticed the slip; she was far too intent on what she'd discovered.


"I don't know... there could be." She slapped the box of samples and rushed from the room, the others shared a glance before following her. Riddick kept Xander back, dropping behind the others; he'd noticed Johns' slip and its effect on Xander.


"What was that, with Johns?"


"He..." Xander trailed off, shrugging, "He reminds me of Angelus and you remember what I told you about him?" Riddick gave a short nod, "I guess the resemblance just... unnerved me for a moment. I'm fine now." Riddick let it drop for now; he'd just have to keep a closer eye on Johns around his boy. They caught up with Fry just as she revealed that they were in line for a complete solar eclipse, the survivors stood staring at the model in a horrified silence. Riddick couldn't resist a comment,


"You're not afraid of the dark, are you?" Xander gave him a small thump on his shoulder and muttered as the others all glared at him. "Behave."


As the others began to move around the village looking for anything to salvage with a renewed determination Xander allowed himself to be pulled along by Riddick towards the shade provided by the skiffs wings. He waited as Riddick darted into the nearest building returning swiftly with a small tub of something, and dragging a low piece of twisted plastic. He set them up in the shade and he used the plastic as a seat, as he reached into the tub and pulled out a lump of what Xander thought to be some sort of grease. Xander watched, bemused, as Riddick smeared it over his scalp, before producing a wicked looking curved dagger from somewhere on his person and using it to shave his head. Xander had been so involved in watching Riddick that Johns' sudden appearance from within the skiff made him jump, he edged behind Riddick without realising he was doing so and watched in disgust as Johns bent over and threw up. Riddick continued to shave slowly,


"Bad sign." Riddick leant forwards and scraped the blade against the rim of a metal drum just in front of him, "Shaking like that in this heat."


Johns turned to face them none to steadily, "I thought I said no shivs." He forced out shakily.


"This?" Riddick tilted the blade questioningly, "This is just a personal grooming appliance." Xander snorted at that. Riddick smirked and handed the blade up to Xander, gesturing for him to continue shaving his head. Xander gulped, then carefully drew the blade over his mate's head periodically handing him the blade back to clean against the drum. Johns watched them for a while before staggering off towards one of the empty buildings.

"What's wrong with him?" Xander asked idly, not really all that interested in the answer.


"Withdrawal, needs his next hit."


"Oh."


"I just heard an interesting conversation. Seems I was right. Johns was lying."


"I heard talking but I was... busy." Xander said sheepishly.


"He told Fry, the details of my last escape. She disagreed with him but she'll be wary from now on." Riddick held still as Xander finished shaving him, before he stood, wiped the remaining grease off and accepted the shiv back from Xander. "We'll have to chat with her to see how wary she'll be." Xander nodded at that and followed the much larger man inside the skiff. Practically on Xander's heels the door to the skiff shut sealing them inside with Fry. She remained unaware of their presence as she was focused completely on what the screens in front of her were saying.


"Thanking you." She said in relief as she turned to check the ship, before screaming at the sight of Riddick and Xander.


"Looks like we're a few shy." Riddick, seeing her confusion continued, "Power cells." Her eyes were wide with fright and her breath hitched as she replied,

"They're coming."


"It's strange not doing a run-up on the main drive yet." Riddick spoke softly and menacingly, "Unless...Unless he told you the particulars of my escape."


"I got the quick and ugly version."


"You're worried about a repeat of history." He stated


"It has entered our minds." She reached up and flicked off the ships display, Riddick moved forward rapidly, too fast for her to see his movement. He leant forward, further invading her personal space, "I asked what you thought."

"Riddick let her be." Xander said from behind him, Riddick glanced at him before backing away. "Look Fry, I know Riddick scares you, but he really doesn't mean you any harm. Don't trust Johns to much, okay?"

"Fine, now can I get back to work?" She turned her back to them both as though denying that she was scared.

"Do you think Johns is a do-right man?" Riddick said lightly moving closer to her, "Think we can trust him to cut me loose?" Xander felt almost overwhelmed by the scent of fear coming from the woman.

"Why? What did you hear?" She tried to make it seem a casual enquiry but the obvious hitch in her voice gave her away.


"Well," Riddick spoke ignoring her question, "I guess if it were trickeration, he'd just 'X' me out, huh? He'd kill me. Then again... I am worth twice as much alive. Oh, you didn't know that? Your Johns ain't a cop. He's a merc, that's why it was so easy for him to use my boy... to threaten my boy, to make me tow the line. No cop would endanger an innocent, would he?" The question hovered between them, Xander could tell she was starting to believe but she tried to deny it,


"Don't waste my time. We're not gonna turn on each other, no matter how hard you try." Xander could tell she didn't really believe what she'd just said, Riddick just turned and walked back to Xander. He paused and spoke, softly almost inaudibly, "I don't know what's gonna happen when the lights go out, Carolyn. But I do know once the dying starts... this little psycho-fuck family of ours is gonna rip itself apart." The door started to crack open, "Ever wonder why Johns shakes like that? Ask him. Ask why your crew pal had to scream so painfully before he died." As he finished the door lowered completely and he looped an arm around Xander's neck and pulled him into the sunshine.


A few minutes after they left the saw her make her way to Shazza and after a brief conversation made her way in the direction they'd seen Johns go earlier. Xander pulled Riddick over to Imam, wanting to ask him something that was bothering him,

"Hey Imam, got a minute?" Imam nodded, "Look I was wondering we're all going to be going to the crash site and then back?" Imam nodded again, and Xander became aware that Paris and Shazza were both listening in, "Does that make as little sense to you as it does to me? I mean we may have to move quickly; so wouldn't it make more sense for a few of us to go, while the rest of us, like Ali and Jack, stay here?" Xander paused and pointed to something behind the others, "Especially with that." They all spun to see what he meant. There on the horizon was the start of the eclipse. It was now going to be a race against time. Imam shouted something in Arabic and his two oldest boys ran to the building that Fry was in, "I agree my young friend," He saw Fry coming from the building and called out to her, "Captain, young Xander raises a fine point, surely it would be better if the children remain here, while the adults make the journey to get the cells?"


"I think someone had better stay with them too, in case it gets dark before we return." Xander said before adding more quietly, "If those creatures come with the darkness then someone will need to keep them calm." Fry nodded to both his ideas.


"Xander will stay." Riddick stated. Xander spun around to glare at him,


"Oh no he won't! I am staying with you Riddick, so don't even try it!" Riddick growled at Xander's challenging his command and stepped forward until he towered over the younger man, to softly for the others to hear he whispered to Xander, "I want you to stay here; you are injured and I need you safe!"

"NO. I can keep up and I am not leaving you alone. I don't trust anyone else to watch your back." Xander turned to the others, "I think Paris should stay with the kids. We'll shut them in the skiff. Will you keep them safe, Paris?" Paris glanced at the other and nodded. "I will do my utmost. I promise you that."

"I'm not staying here!" Jack piped up, only to back down when Riddick snarled at her, his mate would be going into danger and he couldn't stop him, he was in no mood to listen to some brat who didn't want to miss the 'excitement'.


"You will stay here, keep an eye on the other's and listen to Paris. Or I will ghost you now, bitch!" At that the others turned in surprise to face the girl, who paled when she realised her secret was out, before anyone could say anything Riddick continued, "You're bleeding girl, if Xan and I can scent you, you can bet those fuckers will too." Xander stepped closer and placed his good hand on Riddick's taut one; the muscles tightened slightly before relaxing under his gentle caress.


"We want you to be safe Jack. It's going to be dangerous and we don't want you to risk it. We need you to keep Ali calm when it all goes down. Can we trust you?" Xander stared at her and she nodded moving towards the skiff, Imam had been hugging his boys and speaking to them quietly arguing with the oldest much as Xander had with Jack. As Jack passed Ali she snagged his hand and pulled him along with her. Paris turned and walked with them stopping to rest a hand on Imam's shoulder assuring him he'd keep the boys safe. The others all stood watching the horizon, stunned at the speed of the approaching eclipse, Shazza was the first to break from the sight she addressed the others gruffly,


"If we need anything from the crash ship, I suggest we kick on. That sand cat's solar." she threw over her shoulder as she raced towards it. She jumped into the cat quickly flicking switches and pressing buttons, the others ran to get on board making it just as she got it started. She spun the vehicle out of its shelter, realising that Johns wasn't on board she yelled his name pausing slightly until a glance at the sky made her reconsider and she started to drive off. Johns emerged from the building and Shazza slowed slightly to allow the others chance to pull him aboard, ironically it was Riddick who offered Johns a hand. Within minutes they were entering the canyon with the bones of the large creatures, Shazza barely slowed and her passengers were forced to duck several times to avoid decapitation.

"Shit! I've finally found someone who's a worse driver than Buffy is!" Xander yelled at Riddick as the sand cat bounced off the wall of the canyon and continued on its mad rush.


The journey that had taken them the better part of an hour in the heat of the suns took them less than ten minutes with Shazza at the wheel. They all leapt from the cat before it had fully stilled, Riddick followed Johns, Imam and Fry into the wrecked ship to get the power cells, Xander jumped onto the cat to wipe its solar panels, it was caked in dust from their journey through the desert. Shazza waited in the driver's seat for the others to return with the cells she watched the sky in horror as the eclipse grew closer with every minute,


"We're not gonna make it, are we?" She said to Xander as the brightness of the day faded to dusk. Xander looked up at her determinedly, "We will." He half turned and raised his voice slightly, "Riddick, you need to hurry. We're losing light." He cocked his head slightly and nodded, "He said they're on their way." Shazza looked at him, surprised she hadn't heard anything, before she could say anything Imam came out and loaded a power cell on the cat, followed by a struggling Johns carrying another; Johns was swiftly overtaken by Riddick, who had a power-cell balanced on each shoulder and was practically skipping past him. Riddick lowered his two cells on the cat and stepped away so Johns could heave his on board. Shazza revved the engine of the cat and everyone jumped aboard, the light faded almost completely and the sand cat gave one last purr and died,

"Fuck." Xander said, "We won't make it, we need to get under cover. Quickly."


"The storage container." Imam offered in the dying light over the suddenly loud screeching of the creatures, the wind began howling around them and they looked around them uneasily. Their eyes caught sight of the spires in the distance. And the swarms of creatures flying from them.


"How many are there?" Johns said watching as the creatures flew into the dark red sky in their millions.


"Beautiful." Riddick whispered, "Just a suggestion..." Riddick said more loudly, "you may want to run." At his words everyone realised they were stood out in the open, like idiots and all ran towards the container, Xander had only ran a few steps before he was swept up in Riddick's arms and carried along. He began to protest but shut up when he realised that arguing about it would just delay them and that even carrying him, Riddick had no problems keeping up with Shazza. Fry and Johns had reached the safety of the container and turned to those still running, Imam made it gasping for breath.


"Get down!" Fry screamed at them. Moving almost as one Riddick and Shazza both dived forward, Riddick twisted as he moved through the air so he would land on his back cradling Xander. The moment he landed he flipped their bodies; sheltering Xander beneath him, just as he had earlier with Ali. Shazza had landed slightly in front of them and lay face down shaking in terror as the creatures passed closely over them and away, Xander could hear them readying to make another pass and remembering his earlier panicked urge to run yelled out,


"Don't get up Shazza! They're coming back, stay down."


Shazza raised her head up, she couldn't hear them anymore and the container looked so close. She began to rise before she remembered earlier when Xander heard Riddick answer him, even though she had heard nothing. The memory, paired with the desperation she heard in Xander's voice, made her lay flat again, just in time to hear the rapid approach of the swarm of creatures. She couldn't hold back her scream of terror at their passing. Xander yelled out her name thinking she'd ignored him, "She listened, Xan." Riddick reassured him. The swarm finally passed over and Riddick, after listening to ensure they weren't just making another run, stood up and casually beat the sand from his trousers before lifting Xander to his feet and brushing him off too. Together they made their way towards where Shazza still lay, with her eyes shut, Xander leant down and spoke softly to the shaken woman,


"Hey Shazza, they've gone for the moment. You did good; let's go join the others." She stood up and Xander took her hand pulling her to where the other's waited for them, Riddick lingered behind; alert for any signs that the creatures were returning. When they got close enough Imam stepped out and guided them both inside. Riddick and Fry both stopped and turned at the high pitched squealing the creatures made, mixed in with the noise of rock crumbling; Fry peered into the almost complete darkness, straining her eyes' to see what was happening. Riddick reached up and removed his shades, staring at the sight of the spires crumbling under the force of the vast number of the creatures emerging.


"What is it, Riddick?" Fry's voice shook in fear, "What do you see?"


"Like I said..." Riddick voice was calm as he stared at the sight before him, "It ain't me you gotta worry about." As he said that she watched in terror as the eclipse swallowed the last of the suns' light.


A.N: I'm sorry for the delay, but it really couldn't be helped. Thank you for reviewing. There may be another delay before the next chapter as well. I want to have time to watch Chronicals of Riddick and see if I am going to include any of it in my story. Again I am not abandoning this story; just slowing down, due to real life interfering. Please continue to leave a review as it motivates me to type quicker!


SilverSerpentDragon: I am glad you are enjoying the story. I am sorry that any errors are bugging you. I do read through each chapter several times before it's posted, I also spell-check frequently. However, I know occasionally mistakes will slip through, so I am grateful if people tell me when they do. Could you please let me know specifically where the grammar and spellings are incorrect (which chapter) and I'll correct them as soon as I can. If it's something that is consistently being mis-spelt, please tell me which word and after blushing I'll correct it. Thank you for taking time to review. I hope you continue to enjoy reading this story.


Fire of the lioness: Is smoking hot, good?


AddictedtoBuffy: I should be ashamed I'm distracting you from studying, but I'm too glad you liked what you read! Good luck studying in the future though.


Gravy Baby: As usual, your review made my day. Thanks.