Disclaimer: I own nothing from Pitch Black, or TCOR. I am just taking a nonprofit stroll through their universe. Please don't sue. Aurora is mine, should you want to use her just message me... I can be persuaded to share.

This fiction is rated M for a reason. It will contain dark themes, foul language, sexual situations, and violence so if you are squeamish hit that back button and stop while you're ahead. You have been warned.

This is my first Fanfiction, constructive criticism will be welcomed and appreciated, flames will be ignored so don't waste your time.

Rewritten 12/29/10

Chapter 1

It wouldn't have surprised anyone that he brought her back. Man like him, spent his whole life alone, on the run and the first person to really dig their claws into him, make him stand up and take notice; the first person to make him give a damn and wish he was a better man died in his arms. Hell yeah he was gonna get her back, and there was nothing in Heaven, Hell or the fuckin Underverse that could stop him. Like everything in life, it was all just a matter of time. But some things and some people, you just don't see comin.

Eyes are the windows to the soul, Christ what a sappy load of shit. When she walked in trailing that pompous bitch her eyes never strayed from the ground like the secrets of the universe could be found in all the cracks, the miniscule specks of dirt, and the glare of light streaking across the marble. She only looked up once and it was so quick if you weren't watching close you would have missed it. But Riddick was nothing if not observant. He didn't miss the look in her eye even though her gaze wasn't directed at him but to his right where his First among Commanders stood. For the briefest second her steps faltered when she locked eyes with him, before she darted them back to the floor to once again contemplate the secrets hidden therein. And being the observant fucker he was, he didn't miss Vaako's reaction either. Although with that stick wedged so firmly up his ass it was amazing anything could get a response from him. Oh but it was negligible and easy to miss, just a tensing of the shoulders and a slight widening of the eyes before he narrowed them and gazed intently, as if he didn't know what he was looking at. Heart beats passed and he watched his commander force the bored expression back onto his face before returning his attention to the old bag. Interesting, Riddick though. In the two months he had been leading the Necros he hadn't seen anything affect his unflappable commander. Leaning back with a smirk on his face he couldn't wait to see how things played out.

How do I get eyes like that?

You gotta kill a few people...

Some memories were better left buried, but like a fucking ghost her voice haunted him still. Shaking himself, he forced his attention back to the girl in front of him. Something about her reminded him of his Jack. Didn't take a genius to figure out how a girl got eyes like that. He just couldn't figure out if they were haunted or haunting, but that flash of rage and defiance? Now that he could recognize and he knew exactly the kind of shit that would put that look in a person's eyes. He realized he had been ignoring the old bag while he ruminated on the girl. His lack of attention hadn't been lost on the woman and he could see she was all but gnashing her teeth in aggravation, gotta give her points for keeping that fake ass, conciliatory smile plastered on her puss.

"Lord Marshal, as I was saying, we are a small planet, beneath your notice. Surely we could come to an understanding..."

Stepping down from the throne, Riddick paced around the young woman, drawing her scent deep into his lungs before reaching out to the hair hanging over her shoulder, letting it shift slowly through his fingers.

Ignoring the woman's lead in, he asked "what's with the girl?"

"She is my servant."

"Servant huh?" His eyes took in the metal collar surrounding the girl's neck. "You sure you don't mean slave?"

"All a matter of semantics," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Pausing with a calculating look, she continued cautiously. "If it would please you, perhaps as an act of good faith I could transfer her indenture to you."

At this, the girl looked him dead in the eye, despair and resignation fighting for dominance in her gaze. Staring intently, she darted her eyes to his shiv before returning them to the floor. The message wasn't exactly clear, but something was definitely up. Flexing his shoulders and cracking his neck he couldn't help smirking. It had been a long boring two months and he was down for a little diversion.

Oblivious, the Envoy continued "As I was saying the choice to convert or die is no choice at all. My people cannot survive the conversion process. You are asking us to choose between two equally horrific demises."

Anyone observing would have thought Riddick wasn't paying attention to the Envoy wrapped up as he seemed to be in the slave girl he was casually circling. But he was. He didn't miss a word she said, or the subtle nuances of what she wasn't saying. He saw the way her hands clenched in her robes, her pulse throbbing in her neck. He didn't smell fear on her just a nervous excitement. Hmmmm, Someone's up to no good, sure you want to play in my sand box?

"So what makes your race so different it can't be converted?"

It was an idle question, and one he honestly didn't give two shits about. Apparently the old broad hadn't gotten the news flash about the change in regime. First thing he did was put an end to that Destroyer of Worlds bullshit. The Necros could have their converts, but only willing ones. Riddick's eyes narrowed on her face trying to decide what game she was playing at. Surely she wasn't stupid enough to try an outright assault with just the two of them.

"It is simple biology My Lord; I won't bore you with details. If however the girl doesn't please you, perhaps you could find use for her by putting her through the process so you can see firsthand why conversion is not an option for my people."

And they call me a monster. "What's your name girl?"

She didn't even look toward him in acknowledgement.

"Her name is Aurora."

Glancing over at the Envoy, Riddick's eyes narrowed. "I don't recall asking you, she can't answer for herself?"

"I am afraid not Lord Marshal. She is mute."

Riddick watched the almost imperceptible way the muscles along Aurora's arms twitched at the Envoy's words. Interesting, he thought again, very interesting.

Shooting Vaako a look he flicked his eyes toward the Envoy. Vaako's nod was all Riddick needed to get this show on the road. His hand drifted down toward his shiv caressing it lightly before casually turning to stride back toward his throne.

Like a tidal wave the Envoy's thoughts rushed into Aurora's mind. Do it Now!

Aurora had learned long ago she couldn't disobey the commands sent by that one. Hatred for the Envoy and all that she'd been made to do surged through her veins. Regardless, her hand pulled the blade hidden among her robes as she launched herself at the man's retreating back. The relief she felt when he suddenly turned in a crouch grabbing her by wrist and shoulder to throw her across the room was staggering. Tucking into a ball, she rolled as she landed. Why didn't he pull his blade? Springing up, her hand tightened on the daggers hilt.

Riddick took a moment to flick his eyes to Vaako who had come to stand behind the Envoy in the commotion. If his amused expression was anything to go by, he too had been finding life on the Basilica far too boring as of late.

Grinning broadly Riddick crooked his fingers and motioned Aurora forward. "That was fuckin pathetic; you gotta do better than that if you want a piece of me."

Incompetent fool, Kill him!

God, how Aurora wished to be free of all this. Maybe, if she was lucky he would be the one to do it. Death was preferable to serving that heartless bitch. Just gotta resist her for a moment, give him a chance. Aurora came at him slowly, the compulsion to kill nearly overwhelming. Shifting, she locked eyes with him again wishing she could make him understand. But like most things speaking was denied her. Her master had learned early on a silent slave couldn't betray her plans.

The look in those haunted eyes struck Riddick. He couldn't shake the feeling she was begging him for something. She's good, he thought. Good, but not nearly good enough. That last thought made him smirk, but still, he got the distinct impression she was holding back. Amid the dance of death they had fallen into he decided to test the hypothesis and left himself open to strikes, eyes focused on her face. He waited just a heart beat too long to block the blow coming toward his ribs. There, he though. Pain crossed her features as she struggled to temper the blow, her blade running down the line of his ribs cutting through cloth and skin, drawing blood but not doing the kind of damage he knew her capable of. It was becoming painfully obvious she was being controlled, but fucked if he knew how.

Time to end this shit, on the next pass he grabbed her arm using her momentum to twist her around before wrenching it up. Looking toward the Envoy he watched her face contort in concentration, suddenly Aurora's struggles increased tenfold. Gotcha…

Pulling Aurora's arm back around, he swept her feet out from under her, following her down to the floor. Straddling her hips he wrenched her other arm up while she bucked underneath him, vainly attempting to throw him off. Gripping both wrists in one of his hands, he looked to Vaako. "Secure the witch. We need to discuss a few things once I'm done here." With that he drew back his fist and sent it crashing into Aurora's jaw. If he was right they couldn't risk her waking up while the Envoy still drew breath. Feeling her go slack beneath him, he extricated himself from her limp body and prowled over to the Envoy. The air vibrated with danger, rage coming off him in waves.

"I can't decide if you're crazy or just stupid."

Pulling herself up to her inconsiderable height, she turned her nose up at him and said nothing. Riddick chuckled darkly. Let's see how long you keep that superior attitude sister, now that you don't have your plaything to fight your fights.

"Tell me how you did it and maybe I'll let you live."

Riddick watched the thoughts dancing one after another across her face while she tried to decide between being honest and playing dumb. Decision made, eyes shining with innocence and voice ringing out with a false sense of confusion only a fool would believe, she said "did what? I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."

Feeling his control beginning to slip, he bit out "how the fuck did you control her?"

"Control her? She is my slave yes, but I had nothing to do with her attack on you." With a sly smile she continued, "of course the creature must be punished. I leave it to you..." Her voice faltered as Vaako's knife pressed against her throat, biting into her skin just enough to make a drop of blood well and slide along the blade.

"Answer the Lord Marshal's question," he growled.

Nerves were a bitch Riddick concluded as the woman's eyes darted to the slave collar, her pulse ratcheting up a notch, beating furiously against the skin of her neck. Fucking insulting, can't believe this bitch thought she could take me on.

He walked back over to the slave to distance himself before the last of his control snapped. Those throbbing arteries were calling to him and that was one summons he wanted to answer. His hands itched to squeeze the life from that conniving bitch, watching as she realized just what the fuck helpless felt like. Unfortunately, that shit would have to wait. He still had questions he needed answered, so he'd keep himself leashed… for the moment. No one fucked with him and lived, it was a simple fact of life. Soon, he promised himself, soon.

"How do we get that collar off her?"

"You can't. Trying to remove it would only kill her." The Envoy couldn't help the malicious smile that briefly graced her lips.

"Uh huh," Riddick responded noncommittally. "Guess you aren't much good to us then." He paused another moment before turning his attention to his First. "So what do you think Vaako?" The question of what to do with her didn't need to be voiced.

Vaako's pale face took on a sinister cast. "Why don't we follow her suggestion and find out exactly what conversion would do to her people. Learn what we can about these... so called biological differences. She might prove a more useful test subject than her slave. At the very least it would be more entertaining."

"But that would kill Me," she sputtered aghast.

Vaako leaned in close to her ear and in a whisper soft as a lover's said, "that's the idea."

Riddick was the first to notice the slight shifting across the room. Shit… girl couldn't have worse timing.

They say power breeds arrogance. Sure as shit 'She' never dreamed she could fail when she walked into the room. The Envoy couldn't remember a time she had ever failed in anything. True her means weren't always honorable, but they were successful and that was all she cared about. So when she too noticed the slight shifting as Aurora struggled through the murkiness back to consciousness the Envoy's horror at the turn events had taken morphed in to a deep black rage.

"You!"The Envoy screamed.

Bending all her wrath and hatred onto the hapless girl laying on the cold marble floor, she sent waves of pain crashing into her, punishing her, crushing her for her failure.

Vaako and Riddick turned in time to see Aurora's hands clutch desperately at the collar, back arching off the floor. Lungs crushed from within, she exhaled in a ragged rush. Curling into a ball, spasms fired along her muscles. Hands going to her head, a silent scream cut the atmosphere of the throne room just as Vaako's blade cut deeply into the muscles, tissues and veins of the Envoy's neck. Blood trickled from the nose and ears of the slave in a grizzly parody of the blood pouring out of the Envoy's ravaged throat.

In disgust, Vaako kneed the Envoy in the back, sending her sprawling across that same marble floor the slave had stared at so intently. There would be no secrets gleaned from their gleaming surfaces for that one. All she would ever see was the ever widening pool of blood pumping steadily out of her, until she saw no more.

Vaako turned to find that Riddick had knelt down beside the slave and pulled her over onto her back. "Does she still live?"

Heaving a sigh Riddick rubbed a hand down his face, "Yeah" he rumbled. "Though, fuck if I know what she did to her." First Aereon and now this crazy bitch, Life was simpler when it was just mercs on my ass. None of this crazy ass hoodoo shit to deal with. Standing up he paced away to look across the throne room.

With steps that were slow and measured Vaako crossed to the slave. Looking down he tried to figure out what had struck him about this breeder in the first place. He knelt at her side grabbing her chin to turn her face toward him, his eyes raking over her features. There didn't seem to be anything to distinguish her from the thousands of breeders he had come across during the campaign. While she was by no means unattractive she was not the great beauty his Dame had been. Just thinking of that conniving bitch made his lip curl, the rage once again flooding his system. He had taken great pleasure sending her to her death before her 'due time'. He'd kill her all over again given half a chance.

Rising he shrugged off thoughts of his late wife, as well as that weird ass connection he felt when he first locked eyes with the slave. Turning on his heel he went to stand beside the Lord Marshal. Jerking his chin toward where she lay on the floor, "what do you want done with her?"

Riddick's lips quirked in a half smile as he looked at Vaako. "Not my problem."

"My Lord?"

Riddick almost laughed at the incredulous look on his First's face. "What's the matter Vaako, I thought you Necros were all about keeping what you killed."