| Background Info: Six and a half years have passed since Riddick left Jack and Imam on New Mecca. During which time, the government’s files on a certain Richard B. Riddick have been deleted due to the fact that he is presumed to be dead. Experiencing a sense of freedom he never knew existed before, Riddick went back in search of his newfound family. In search of Jack. When he arrives on New Mecca Imam informs him that Jack left a few months prior to his arrival. Riddick leaves, truly feeling regret for the first in his life. He traveled for some months after that, finally settling to stay on Tanglier 6, a planet very similar to earth. Months passed as he thought about what he should do. Giving up, Riddick decided to go for what he knows best; taking people out. The only difference now is, he gets paid for it. ********************** Title: Hemorrhage Author: Priscilla Chapter 1: Vendetta It was raining, the sky a mix light and dark shades of gray. ‘How appropriate’, Detective Nick Fourcade thought as he tentatively approached the large funeral gathering for John Wei’s oldest son. He stood off to the side as a sign of respect and to show his neutrality. He didn’t come here for any trouble. When the funeral was over, Nick was about to leave when someone tapped his shoulder. "Mr. Wei would like a word with you detective." Nick nodded his head slightly and followed the large man whom he hadn't even heard come up behind him. Nick eyed the old man warily as he approached. John Wei was as skinny as a toothpick and as mean as a lion. He was known for his ruthlessness and brutality among his peers. "It could be considered inappropriate for a murderer to show up at his victim’s funeral." The old man said, coming closer. Nick could feel everyone’s eyes on him suddenly. "Just trying to pay my respects." He said shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. The blood rose in the old man’s face but he didn’t so much as twitch. "You talk to me about respect, Detective. I speak to you of honor. My daughter in law weeps because she has lost a husband, my grandson doesn’t even know he has lost his father. Their honor is lost, because of you." Nick’s heart twisted looking at the little boy. He was about four or five. Damn it. When Nick didn’t respond, the old man continued to talk. "It seems today you pursue your family’s vendetta against mine." Nick shook his head. "Your son made his choice Mr. Wei." "And you have made yours detective." The old man said before starting to walk away. Nick stood there remembering the reason all this was going down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~F L A S H~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Alright people, let's roll." Nick said as he and the rest of the officers under his command move into several positions on the docks. They had been watching these drug dealers for over two months, during which time they'd acquired enough evidence to get an arrest warrant issued by a judge. Using their infrared camera equipment, the officers watched as the sleek boat glided across the water to stop a few yards away from the group awaiting them. The men from the boat stepped off, one of them making a signal to another man operating a forklift. Nick's eyebrows drew together in confusion. What the hell was going on? He watched as the forklift was lowered, the barrels it was transporting set down with a loud thud on the wooden docks. Eric Montoya, Nick's partner, made his way over to him in the dark. "What are we waiting for? They're right there, man." Montoya said kneeling down. Nick shook his head absently. "They haven't done anything yet. Let's give them enough time to hang themselves." Nick said never taking his eyes off of the camera. Back on the docks, two men started removing the lids of the barrels, as the others stood watch. After the lids were removed, one moved forward and licked his pinky finger before sticking it into one of the barrels. It came back up covered it in white powder. 'Crack cocaine, jackpot', Nick thought as he signaled the police lights on. The men scattered, officers right on their tail. Nick took chase immediately, going after what he assumed was the prime suspect. "Hold your fire!" He yelled into his shoulder comm. unit, struggling to keep up with the quick suspect. "Hold back, he ain't going nowhere!" Nick cursed under his breath as the man took a sudden turn and started to climb a fire escape. He put his gun in his holster and went after him. Once on the roof, the man realized that he was royally screwed. All the other nearby buildings were too far away to jump to. Nick reached the top of the building and put his hands up in mock surrender. The suspect was way on edge; very jumpy, which wasn't good Suddenly, the blinding lights of a police hover chopper illuminated the entire area of the roof. Nick fearing that this would push the man over the edge, commanded the craft to leave. "They’re gone, man. Nobody’s gonna hurt you." He said in his calmest voice possible. The suspect pulled his gun out, pointing it at Nick’s chest. "Don’t make me." Nick said shaking his head. The man made a move to fire, Nick took the initiative and shot him first; right into the river. That’s why all this is happening, Nick thought as the Wei family walked away. He’d killed the man’s only son. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~END FLASH~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Title: Hemorrhage Author: Priscilla Chapter 2: Trials and Tribulations What the fuck is that ringing noise? Riddick thought sleepily. He rolled over in bed, lazily wondering why his head felt like it was going to explode. Then his body came into contact with soft skin. He opened his eyes quickly and looked down at the still sleeping woman, images of last night flashing in his brain. Shaking his head, Riddick realized that the ringing hadn't stopped. It suddenly registered that it could be Jason with a new job. He bolted out of bed and picked up. "Yeah." "Riddick, Jason here. The boss wants to see you, like now." Jason surveyed his surroundings; the streets were filled with people in the market place. To anyone who happened to be looking he seemed like a tourist making a simple phone call. Riddick scowled on the other end. He never really got used to the fact that after years of his supposed death, the name Riddick had become fairly popular amongst young men. Like it was suddenly cool to be named after a mass murderer. The trend had allowed him to keep his name though, so he couldn't complain too much. "Where?" He basically growled out; his minor headache had turned into a full-blown migraine. Jason leaned his shoulder against the pay phone and looked around once more. "Meet me at The Dungeon, half hour?" Jason asked looking at his watch. Riddick agreed to meet him and hung up. He was surprised to find the woman in his bed gone. "Good, she spared me the trouble of kicking her out." He thought to himself as he picked out his clothes and went to take a shower. ******************** Jack, well she hadn't been called 'Jack' in a long time, sat at her desk; using a pair of thin tweezers and a magnifying glass to place a young woman's picture into a newly made passport. That's what she did now, forge documents. She'd stayed on New Mecca for about six months after Riddick's departure, tried to make it work with Imam but he just couldn't understand her. He couldn't understand that as much as she did love him, he was not what she wanted. Who she wanted. So she left one day and never looked back. She traveled for some years, explored the galaxy like she'd always wanted. When she landed on Tanglier 6 she decided to stay, to see if she really could settle somewhere and make it on her own. After getting the picture properly affixed to the passport, Jack put it into a laminating machine. She cracked her neck and rubbed at the tense muscles of her back. She'd been in the same position for hours now. Suddenly, her bell was rung. Jack walked briskly to the main room of her two-bedroom apartment. One room she slept in and the other she kept for storage of the documents on lay away or those needing to be picked up. The kitchen was affixed to the small living room and the once workout room she now used as an office. Reaching the front room, Jack sat at her desk and flipped on her computer and then her security monitor next to her camera. There was a woman outside her door, looking around nervously. Jack pressed a button on her keyboard so that she could speak to the woman. "Yeah?" "Ah, Jackleen, it's Miriam." The woman said simply. Jack could see her fidgeting with her heavy purse on the screen. She was one of her old customers. Probably came to pay off the last of her tab. "Come on in." She said buzzing the woman through, the door clinked shut loudly behind her. From that desk, Jack could see, hear, and control everything that happened outside that apartment. As Miriam came up the short steps that led to her landing, Jack turned the gun holster under her desk counter clock wise pointing the Magnum it held straight at the door. Miriam walked in and smiled at Jack handing over a wad of money held together by a rubber band. Jack took the wad and counted it. After making sure the 500 was all there, she got up and made a move for the hall. "See this camera?" Jack asked pointing to a corner of the ceiling. Miriam nodded her in affirmation. "I have a monitor in every room of this apartment. One funny move, I’ll come back here and blow your head off, play nice and we can both go our separate ways. Deal?" Mariam nodded her head profusely. Jack smiled to herself as she walked into her second bedroom, the show out there was just that, a show. She’d dealt with people much more imposing than poor Miriam, but still, looks can be deceiving. The woman had been paying off her divorce and new identity papers for weeks now. It seemed she was married to a real asshole, used her as a punching bag more often than not, so Jack had only asked for $1,500 for a job that would normally cost around $2,500. "You’re getting soft, Jack." She muttered when she found Miriam’s envelope and walked back out to given them to her. Soon Miriam was on her way to start her new life, while Jack was out to lunch. ***************** Riddick was pissed off. Jason had said to meet him in half an hour. So far, he was half and hour later than he should have been. The alleyway was deserted and pretty well blocked from the prying eyes of passerby's on the street. He heard a noise, sounded like footsteps. Instinctively, he molded in against the wall and waited to see if the person was friend or foe. Well he didn’t really have any friends, but you get the point. Jason was about to turn around and walk back when he remembered Riddick’s uncanny ability to mold into his surroundings. "Riddick? Riddick!" He whispered harshly into the alley. Suddenly he was lifted of his feet by his shirt collar and slammed up against the wall. "You better have a good fucking reason for dragging me out of bed and then showing up late, Jason." Riddick growled, his face mere inches from the other man’s visibly shaken face. "Sorry, man but I had no choice. Here." Jason said rearranging his shirt and handing Riddick an envelope. "Don’t open it yet. Mr. Wei wants to see you." Riddick scowled and nodded his head, placing the envelope into one of his pants pockets. Just as he turned to leave, Jason put his hand on his shoulder. Anyone else would of had their head ripped off for that. "Be careful Riddick." Jason said letting his hand drop. Riddick nodded his head again and walked back out to his car. |