Title: Interchange
Author: Minx
Fandom: Pitch Black
Pairing: Riddick/Fry
Rating: NC-17 for graphic violence.
Disclaimer: The Characters of Pitch Black are copyright to USA Films. There is no infringment intended by the use of them in this story. I claim none of those characters.
Chapter Five (Chapter 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-9)
Fry stood in the bathroom holding the towel for Nikki. For the first time in over 24 hours, even though he was standing behind her, she couldn't feel Riddick's eyes boring into her.
Instead they were roaming over the poor woman in the shower. Nikki Erskine was discovering the joys of living with a mass murderer. Fry wanted instinctively to stand between him and Nikki, but knew he'd just haul her out of the way.
Fry rubbed the rough towel in between her fingers, trying to find something to distract herself. Nikki Erskine was a fare paying passenger, and she, Fry, was a crew member. She felt embarrassed at having a passenger naked in front of her, and felt protective towards her. Nikki was clearly very frightened.
She could hear Riddick's breathing becoming harsh. She knew what he was doing. She stood completely still knowing she was in the most danger ever of being raped.
Fry's stomach turned over, all he had to do was pin her to the wall. She licked her lips and desperately wished she was anywhere else but here. Even at home with her parents, who she completely despised.
When Riddick had thrown the picture of her family across the room she had gasped and then cried, not because she was upset at losing it, but because he had nearly decapitated her with it. Fry hated her family and her parents with vengeance. They had always doted on her two brothers. She had been the cuckoo in the nest. Not as attractive. Not as smart. But all the agro had just made her tougher. She considered her brothers to be wimps, still living at home well into their twenties. A tiny smirk touched her lips at the thought of their reactions if they confronted Riddick.
They'd piss themselves.Erskine kept giving Fry side ways glances. Fry was ignoring them. Fry wanted her to just wash quickly then they could go and sleep. Riddick had said they could.
They had made it from the cryo chamber to here in an easy manner. The only drama had been when Nikki had first come out of the cryo tube. Riddick had decided to assert his authority, hauled Nikki aloft with his awesome strength and banged her head against the hull of the ship once. He'd leaned close and given her the same treatment he had been dishing out to Fry. Threatened her and told her to behave. Fry had watched the woman's reaction as closely as Riddick had watched hers to Mitchell's death. Fry noticed the sweat on upper lip was just a little too light, the shaking against Riddick's bulk pressed against her just a little too pronounced and the tears in her wildly blinking eyes was just a little too false.
She's faking.Fry knew she was, because Fry was faking it too.
Fry had had to drop her eyes to the floor to stop from howling with laughter. She'd skimmed the passenger list the same as Riddick had. Wondering who would be the most help and least hassle.
You should have picked the hippie you prick.Nikki had just hung there and not struggled. She seemed oblivious to Riddick's painful grip on her arms. He had outlined his plan to her the same as he had to Fry, and made her aware of the consequences if she messed him about.
Now standing in the bathroom, where she was so humiliated just hours before, Riddick was giving Nikki the 'haven't I got a big dick ' routine. Fry could smile about Riddick wanking at her now, at the time it had been unbelievably humiliating.
Nikki finished up and flipped off the water. She reached out for the towel from Fry keeping her face deadpan. Fry did the same. Riddick had stopped groaning and his breathing was heavy but regular now. She heard him turn on the tap in the sink, presumably rinsing his hand.
Nikki dried herself rapidly and grabbed the clean clothes off the locker that they had retrieved from Fry's room before coming into the bathroom. The silence in the room was heavy and uncomfortable. It was broken by the sound of a zipper being pulled up, followed by another.
They stood facing each other waiting for Riddick's instructions. Fry lowered her gaze, if Nikki's lips quivered once more he would realize they had something going.
After a long few moments, in which Fry tried to work out what he was thinking about, he said, "Carolyn you stay in Mitchell's quarters. Nikki you will go into Owens quarters."
Fry breathed a sigh of relief, he hadn't noticed.
He was just deciding whether to separate us or not...interesting. So he still considers us or me a danger."Move," yelled Riddick. Both women jumped at his roar. Fry spun on her heel and walked into the sleeping area that was still devastated from Riddick's earlier vandalism. She had almost made it to the other side of the room when she felt herself swept off her feet and slammed against the wall. Her head smacked against the metal edging and her ears rang with the force. Riddick grabbed her and pulled her roughly up to half standing, pressing against her so tightly she could hardly breathe. Fry gasped, her head lolling.
Riddick said nothing and grabbed her around the throat, squeezing. Fry heard Nikki gasp, but her main concentration was on trying to breathe. She struggled, he had realized she was faking, he [i]must[/i] have realized she was faking. Her vision began to narrow alarmingly; he was going to kill her. Fry closed her eyes willing her life to continue.
Riddick let her go. She collapsed onto the floor in a heap, her face pressed to the carpet as the oxygen flooded her lungs. Riddick and Nikki left the room.
Fry lay on the floor for some time, she didn't know how long. She had heard her door close and Riddick lock it. She could hear muffled sounds in the next cabin. She hoped Nikki was all right. She couldn't think any further than that. Her head pounded as she lay wondering how close she had been to death as she sank into blessed oblivion.
She was awoken as harshly as she had been left to sleep. A toe cap smacked her in the ribs and she grunted in pain. Opening an eye she looked at Riddick's legs.
"UP, you have work to do," he said.
Fry raised herself up on her elbows and swallowed. Her throat was incredibly sore. She coughed and tried to swallow again. Riddick pushed his toe cap into her ribs again.
"Alright," she croaked, and pulled her legs under her until she was kneeling. She brushed her hair from her face, feeling every single bruise that Riddick had given her. She flopped over onto her side disorientated and feeling sick, sore and tired.
Fuck.Riddick completely ignored her and walked to the doorway. He stopped and looked back at her. "I said UP!"
Fry pushed herself onto her feet and staggered after him. They left the room and walked the few short strides to Owens quarters. Riddick opened the door onto the view of a still slumbering Nikki. She was curled in a fetal position amongst the debris of the room, making it look almost identical to Fry's.
"Wake her," said Riddick. Fry rubbed a hand over her face and walked into the room. She grabbed Nikki's shoulder and shook it gently.
Nikki came fully awake in a matter of seconds, looking startled and terrified. She had dried crusted blood on the side of her face and on sight of Riddick instantly began to tremble. Fry was alarmed by her reaction.
What did he do to her!Fry mumbled, "All right?" which she clearly wasn't, and then pulled her to her feet. Fry could feel Riddick's massive presence behind her. Nikki looked over her shoulder at Riddick. Fry had never seen anyone so frightened, her stomach churned again. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse.
Riddick watched impassively, as gripping each other they pushed past him and out into the hall. Fry turned towards the galley, but Riddick grabbed her shoulder pinching it painfully and stopped her.
"Engine room," he said.
Fry turned and set off down the other way, Nikki gradually finding her feet and hanging off her less. Fry glanced at her a couple of times; she looked like shit had happened to her.
I didn't actually think he would...but why her and not me?Fry mused to herself, trying to hurry the thoughts around her head and snatch the answers in the few minutes of relative peace she had before they reached the engine room and Riddick started playing 'God Almighty' again.
He did it to her...to frighten me. He suspects I am faking...he's trying a mind fuck..She'd have to improve her acting. Riddick suspected or maybe even knew she wasn't really being submissive to him. He knew or suspected that she was biding her time till she could screw him. That’s what last nights little display was all about. A panic attack gripped her, her skin chilling instantly and a fizzing sensation making her head spin.
Fuck, fuck, fuck! He's going to kill me!She swallowed the bile down, her bruised throat constricting painfully. She really needed a drink.
They arrived in the engine room the way they had left the sleeping quarters, in silence. Riddick had made it clear, in his little pep talk with Nikki in the cryo-chamber that there was to be no talking between them, other than related to work.
Fry had never spent a great deal of time in the engine room but looking round now she could see things had been moved.
In one corner were a set of chains hanging off a hook on the wall, with a chair close by. There were dried food rations stacked neatly on the workbench in the center of the room and a large container of water. Any tools that may have been lying about had gone. There was nothing that could be used as a hand held weapon.
He's been busy while we've been asleep.Fry desperately wanted water but it was the chains that had caught her attention. She licked her bone dry lips and tried not to think about them.
Riddick walked to the bench and picked up two packets of dried rations and two cups. He filled the cups and set them down, placing the food rations next to them. He turned, crossed his arms across his bulky chest and addressed them both.
"From now until you finish refilling the rams you will live in here, apart from the six hours sleep I will let you have, in twenty-four. You eat and work, that’s it. No talking. I don't want to listen to silly girly chit chat."
Fry looked past him at the water in the cups on the bench. She was close enough to see the tiny vibrations on the surface of the water caused by the near silent hum of the ships engines.
"You get that, Fry, when you have finished the first ram." said Riddick gesturing to the cups.
It took every single ounce of control for her to raise her chin and not burst into tears. Fry silently counted to ten, then counted again. She turned from Riddick visualizing, inside her head, every swear and cuss word she had ever heard. She gritted her teeth, set her jaw and took deep breaths as she set about collecting the tools she and Nikki would need.
I swear on my life...when I get THAT chance, Richard, Butthole, Bastard, Buggering Riddick ..I AM SO GONNA FUCK YOU!The first ram took, what felt like, forever. Fry had never done this before, she'd seen it in theory, watched it in practice. It was hard and dirty work but after nearly three hours they got it done.
Nikki may have been frightened witless but she was smart when it came to engineering and had caught on to the task almost immediately. They had whispered to each other a few times as they had worked, but nothing more than 'okay?' or 'thank you' neither of them wanting Riddick's wrath to fall on them.
He had stood no more than ten feet away from them the whole time. Watching, listening, and noting every thing they did. Fry found after around an hour her awareness of him had actually heightened to the degree she could feel his presence easily. Thus being able to use her body to block his view, very casually of course, and hide anything she was doing. At present, it wasn't much but she hoped it would be a useful skill and she could come up with a weapon or at least an idea of how to kill him.
Both she and Nikki were filthy. The hydraulic fluid was sticky and smelled awful. On opening a container her first few breaths of it had made Fry glad she hadn't had anything to eat. They had poured it into the pump and then by winding the lever it had been pushed into the tubes of the ram.
Nothing had any labels of quantity on so they had been frantically winding, taking turns till their arms and shoulders ached, when it had all started to pour out over their feet.
Nikki had screeched 'stop' as the fluid had poured over the rim of the tube, sliding down the side and covering their feet.
Fry had stopped suddenly, not because of the mess on the floor but because it was the first time she had heard Nikki speak in a loud and clear tone. Her one word had shattered the silence and Fry realized just how much she missed conversation. Not that she was the world's best conversationalist but even she liked a little verbal dialogue occasionally.
Riddick had broken the moment by appearing swiftly and silently, saying, "You'd better clear that up," nodding towards the fluid oozing across the floor.
Now they had returned to the engine room and found some rags to wipe their hands on.
"You can eat, now," was all Riddick said and try as she might to control herself and keep her icy veneer in place, Fry fell on the water and dried rations like wolf on a sheep's carcass Nikki followed suit.
Fry drained the cup of water in one go, a fair bit running out of her mouth and down her neck in her haste. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She looked at Riddick; time to push her luck.
"If we dehydrate we can't work," she said. Riddick stopped picking his nails with his shiv and raised his head to look at her. He seemed to consider the matter for a few seconds.
"You can have more if you want...but bear in mind you are gonna have me watch you piss."
Fry didn't care; he'd watched her shower and jerked off while she dressed. Watching her piss would be a stroll in the park. She helped herself to another cup of water and then a third. Nikki again followed her lead.
They continued to work hard and finished a second ram that day; only thirteen to go. They got to eat again and then Riddick announced," Time for bed kids!" with a disgusting smirk on his face.
They all walked back up towards the sleeping quarters. Fry sighed tiredly. The muscles in her arms were sore, unused to the manual work. If he locked them in the rooms at least she could shower in peace and soak them. Perhaps she would have enough energy to tidy up a little, see if he left anything for her to use as a weapon. She didn't think so but there was always a chance.
Outside the quarters Riddick called a halt.
Fry wondered why, frowned, started to turn to look at him, keeping her gaze lowered.
Riddick grinned and pointed at Fry. She frowned.
What now?"Eeiny," Riddick now pointed to Nikki, " Meeny," and then back to Fry again.
"Miney, mo, catch a girly by her toe. If she screams let her go. Eeiny, meeny, miney, mo."
Riddick's finger came to rest pointing at Nikki. He grabbed Fry roughly by the arm and shoved her through her doorway. With a curt, "Night Fry," he slammed it closed.
Fry stood looking at the door. Her heart was in her mouth as the significance of the child's rhyme hit her. Now she couldn't help herself and burst into tears. Huge sobs erupting from inside her and she slumped to the floor.
Chapter 6
Fry slumped dejectedly onto the floor. She sat staring at the patterns on the corded carpet, taking in nothing. She barely registered the dirt, and the indentations from thousands of footfalls that had come and gone. Sitting quiet and still she could barely feel her own breathing. She felt more despondent now than at any time in the past two days.
This is hopeless. I can't beat him. I can't win.She could hear noises from Nikki's cabin. Not frightening or alarming noises, just noises much too loud for just one person.
What’s he doing to her? She's not screaming. Perhaps he's gagged her.Pictures of Nikki's abused body floated in front of Fry's eyes. She had visions of Riddick doing...God knows what. Fry closed her eyes, trying to shut out the images. She wanted to put her hands over her ears to block out the sounds. But she couldn't. She wanted to stand up and hammer on the wall and scream her hatred of Riddick at the top of her voice, but she wouldn't do that either. Instead keeping her eyes closed her, and for the first time in at least a dozen years, Fry prayed.
As an atheist she felt a fraud. Asking for a divine power to keep someone safe was the plan that lurked at the bottom of everyone's barrel, and she was no exception. She squeezed her eyes tightly closed and tried to reach out with her mind to something, anything that she could hang on to. She was at a loss to know what else to do.
Having silently muttered the few sacred words she knew she climbed slowly to her feet and tore herself away from the shuffling noises. She could wash off the grime, but the sticky sweat from the fear and misery clung to her like a shroud. As she rose, she caught her hand on something on the carpet. She winced and looking down saw it was a piece of glass. She frowned and then remembered Riddick throwing the picture of her family across the room. He had forgotten about the glass and never cleared it up.
Glass!Her mind rang with sudden clarity. What could she do with it? Her mood went from despondency to mind-swirling hope in seconds. She decided it would be a good time to tidy up and see how much she could find. She surveyed the mess strewn across the room; it was a pig-sty. Her tired aching limbs protested at the though of the laborious task. She was unpleasantly hot and uncomfortable, looking down at her pants she realized how filthy she was.
Shower first, I think.But she wanted to find and collect the glass. What if Riddick came in any second now! This could be the chance she had been waiting for.
Bending stiffly like a person twice her age she carefully searched the floor picking up any bits she could find, shifting the debris of Riddick's whirlwind search to one side for sorting out after she had showered. After just a few minutes she had got quite a collection of large shards and some tiny splinters too. She stared hard at the remains of the picture frame now contained in her hands. As she walked into the bathroom, she carefully turned the largest triangular shaped sliver over and over.
She slipped all the pieces in between a couple of towels on the locker, her gaze lingering on the large pointed shard. If for any reason Riddick should walk in now, he would be hard pressed to find her new weapon. She ripped off her disgusting clothes and stood under the hot water, feeling it easing her aches. Her mind began churning over what she could use the glass for.
Riddick finally left Nikki's room at least an hour after they had arrived. He closed and locked her door and grinned to himself.
I love a good plan.He had a lot to do before he could finally allow himself the luxury of a few hours rest. Not that he was tired now, in fact he was feeling quite the opposite, rather hyped up. He walked to the galley and fetched enough food packets for the next day and replenished the water container.
Then he went to the bridge and checked over the autopilot system. The one factor he couldn't control was something unexpected. Another unmanned ship on auto-pilot or a meteor storm or even a rogue comet. He could only check the systems and then check again; hoping they would automatically kick in if something showed up, steer the ship away and avoid a catastrophe.
He looked over all the screens and data banks. It all looked fine--to him. He would get Fry up here later to check it too. He was sure she would now give him accurate information, now she was really scared. Riddick grinned; she was going to be good girl from now on, he was sure of that.
Happy with how things were shaping up he settled himself in the Captains chair. He yawned, opening his mouth so wide his jaw clicked, closed his eyes and quickly drifted off into the sleep of the self-satisfied.
Fry awoke with Riddick's toe cap in her ribs again. But instead of growling with discomfort, her first thought was --would he find the hidden glass?
She had spent a lot of her precious limited sleeping time finding the perfect place to hide it, and working out what to do with it. Eventually she had concealed all the pieces she could find in a recess between the locker in the bathroom and the bulkhead wall. She had also decided on at least one use for the tiny splintered pieces.
Pacing her response to Riddick's unattractive wake-up technique; she rolled onto her side and lowered her legs to the floor. She was less stiff this morning, as she had slept on the mattress on the bed rather than crashed out on the floor.
Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she noticed Riddick surveying the room, taking in the fact she had tidied it. She really didn't want him thinking about it too much. As she climbed to her feet she faked stumbling and crashed against his legs.
"Oh crap, sorry," she mumbled.
Riddick looked down his nose at her and frowned, as she hauled herself up.
Please don't think to hard Riddick. I know it strains those little brain cells!She stood up, wanting, just for once to goad Riddick, provoke a reaction and make sure he didn't think about the glass.
"Time for work Boss?" she said in her chirpiest, cheekiest and most irritating voice.
His fist came out of nowhere, propelling her across the room. She somersaulted across the bed and landed in a heap on the floor.
Fuck!Fry stood up briskly, blinking and shaking her head to clear the ringing in her ears. Even with blood pouring from her nose, she had to try and keep his attention. She grabbed a dirty shirt off the floor to staunch the flow and glared at him. She hoped he would just think she was being sassy. He stared at her, his lip curling.
"You smart mouthed bitch."
She walked to the doorway quickly waiting for his hands to close around her throat again, wondering if she had pushed too far. But they never came and she knew that her diversionary tactic had worked. Still trying to stem the flow of blood from her nose she smiled secretly to herself; the stash was safe for now.
They all followed the same routine for four days. Sleep, work, eat, work, eat, sleep; with the exception of Fry who listened to the noises, worried and then showered as well. She couldn't sleep till the noises subsided. She had tried talking to Nikki while they were working but it was impossible, Riddick was always within earshot. Every night Riddick went to her after locking Fry up. Every night she could hear the heavy breathing, the deep rumble of his voice, the shuffling sounds. She had even pressed her ear to the wall trying to corroborate her worst fears. Fry couldn't take not knowing anymore and came up with a plan. She would use the glass to bore a hole through the wall. She had decided it was worth the risk of discovery, to try and talk to Nikki.
She had moved a small drawer unit, which was the only piece of loose furniture in the room, as quietly as she could, dragging it away from the wall. She knew the walls were very thin. It was a standing joke on ships like the Hunter Graztner that they were thin to stop the crew from fraternizing with each other. If you wanted sex you had to be quiet and discreet. All the cabins were identical, so she knew Nikki would have a locker or similar unit on the other side to cover the hole once she had broken through.
She took one of the biggest pieces of glass ands wrapped a piece of material from a dirty shirt around it. She dug it in the wall and began to wiggle it into the thin plaster. The glass was not very thick so she had to be careful and not break it and her supplies were limited. Having started she wanted to keep going but knowing she had another eighteen hours of work to come was a deterrent. She had to sleep but didn't have her watch so didn't know how long she had worked. It seemed almost as soon as she started she had to stop, fatigue setting into her body.
Each night she followed the same pattern. She showered and then had to wait for Riddick to leave Nikki. Fry had to force herself to stay awake so she could begin scraping. The plaster board wasn't tough in itself but the fire retardant filler was. So her progress had been painfully slow. She counted, silently, to herself to try and maintain some idea of time. When she was so tired the numbers became jumbled she knew she couldn't carry on. She stopped and slowly pulled the unit back into place. Conveniently the solid base of the unit hid the tiny particles of dust and debris the plaster had made. She carefully hid away the glass scraper and made for her bed. Her mind shut down the second her head touched the mattress. Each night her spirits rose a little more as the scar on the wall deepened.
Tonight was the first time she could hear scraping the other side of the wall. Nikki had obviously worked out what she was doing and was trying to help, what she was using, Fry didn't know.
Finally after six nights a deep hole had appeared. Fry held her breath; if she had miscalculated it could be Riddick looking back at her. Poking through the last bit of plaster with her finger, she bent and peered through the opening. She was thankful to see a pretty dark brown eye looking back rather than a shiny black one.
Fry smiled. She whispered, "Hi Nikki," after a few seconds she heard Nikki reply, "Hello, Carolyn."
Fry began to pull away the plaster frantically. She would carefully collect up all the pieces to hide in a locker. Soon it was big enough for Fry to push her hand through the hole, grazing her knuckles on the rough plaster in her haste. She dangled it in mid air and then felt another hand gently clasp her fingers. Fry grinned broadly and leaned her head against the plaster wall. Tears prickled her eyes she hadn't realized how much she really appreciated human contact until it had been taken away. At least now, she could talk with Nikki.
(Chapter 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-9)