A/N: Welcome fans, to the third installment of the Riddick/Deirdra Saga! for newcomers, first read Lord Marshal Riddick and Ursa Luna in that order. for the rest of you, i'm glad you've returned for more Riddick, Deirdra and now Fisher! and now, wihout further guilding the lily...the first chappie! enjoy!

Chapter 1: Taking Initiative

She awoke to being shaken, almost violently. She groaned her protest and turned into the body and arms holding onto her, pulling a fur blanket up a little more over her shoulder.

"Dee!" a teenage voice starting to deepen in pitch whispered harshly. "Come on! It's hardly snowing now! It's time for a hunt! Get him up and moving!"

"Oh, shut it, Fish," she groaned, her voice raw from sleep. "It's too early for this. Go back to sleep."

"I can't!" the boy of sixteen replied, his head shaven, his brown eyes sparkling with impatience as he bounced on his heels where he crouched in front of the sleeping couple. "He said he'd take me on my first hunt today! I'm ready!"

"All the more reason you should get some more sleep," she grumbled, starting to drift back into dreamland herself. "You go out with him, you go out most of the day hunting. Just try to sleep, please?"

"Oh, come on!" he growled softly, reaching for her shoulder and shaking it again. There was a low growl from the man lying with her and a large hand came up to swat the boy's hand away.

"Go to sleep, brat," he rumbled, rolling over onto his side, his arm around her waist and pulling her with him. She gave out a giggle as her shoulder length strawberry red hair fell in her face and she snuggled against his chest to sleep again.

"But-"

"Go to sleep before I shiv you," the large man rumbled, never opening his eyes and the boy sighed in defeat as he sat back onto his rear.

The three had been on UV 1 for three years now. Fisher had been twelve when Riddick and Deirdra picked him up on Kalos, and now he was sixteen and itching for some action. He'd always been cooped up with Deirdra when Riddick went out on hunts, and when the man had finally decided he would take the teen with him, it was all Fisher could do to keep from wetting himself in excitement.

Glancing over the now sleeping couple, he eyed the weather outside. A morning snow storm was blowing, but he'd seen worse. It was dark, almost like night outside, but that was typical. It had always been that dark, as if the sun was setting all day. Glancing back at the couple he bit the corner of his lip, forming a plan. If they didn't want to get their asses up and help him, he'd go hunting himself.

Over the years, he'd gotten impulsive and reckless, but most of the time Deirdra and Riddick kept him in line. This time, the two were fast asleep, and the more he thought about it, the more he convinced himself that his stupid idea was actually a pretty good one. Standing and silently treading to the other side of the cave, Fisher pulled a thick, wool coat from his pile of furs he called a bed and taking one last glance at the sleeping couple, he turned to the entrance of the cave, pulled his Riddick-like goggles over his eyes to protect them from the wind and snow, and trudged into the storm, his own pair of shivs on his belt.

Just as he stepped out, Deirdra stirred again and frowned as she looked up and around the cave, sensing something was wrong. She sat up on her elbow to look over Riddick and noticed Fisher wasn't in his makeshift bed and neither was his coat. His shivs were missing as well from the pile of knives, shivs and belts that lay in another corner of the cave. Instantly awake, Deirdra shook Riddick's shoulder frantically, her eyes wide and shooting around the cave, fearing the worst.

"Tell that damn kid to go to sleep," Riddick groaned, turning away from her but she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him onto his back to stare down at him just as he opened his eyes to reveal shining pools of tired silver.

"He's gone," was all she had to say and Riddick sat up, now awake.

He shot his gaze around the cave, then toward the entrance of the cave. He sat there for a moment, Deirdra sitting with him, wondering what he was going to do and waiting for instruction. Another moment went by before he growled and flopped back down in the pile of furs they were laying on, pulling one over himself. Deirdra frowned, still sitting up and stared wide eyes of disbelief at him.

"What the hell are you doing?" she spat.

"Going back to sleep," he replied, tiredly.

"Do you not realize that our-!"

"Don't you dare say it," Riddick snapped, his shining eyes glaring at her as he sat up again to look her straight in the eyes. "He's not our son. Get that through your head, Girl. I'm tired of having to correct you all the damn time. He wants to get himself killed? Let him. It ain't our responsibility."

"He's just a child, Riddick," Deirdra replied. "Even if he's not our son, he's just a kid who doesn't know any better."

"Goddammit, Girl! I'm sick and tired of you always saying he doesn't know any better!" Riddick roared, standing completely, now unable to sleep because he was so angry. "He does know better! He's a smart kid, I've seen it, but for whatever reason he won't use those goddamn smarts! I'm sick of it!"

He marched to the other side of the cave and sat against the wall, trying to use the cold of the stone to cool his temper. Deirdra stared at him for a moment then looked outside again.

It was true that for the three years they'd been there, she was always saying Fisher didn't know better, but she always knew he did. Riddick saw it too, and they were constantly fighting over things the boy had done, and no matter who was right or wrong, Deirdra would always stick up for Fisher as if he were her own son. She had even slipped a few times saying that he was their son, which made Riddick even more angry.

Making up her mind, Deirdra stood and dressed as Riddick stayed in his place, watching her. Dawning a long sleeved, black turtle-neck, brown cargo pants, black combat boots and a thick wool coat she walked toward the pile of weapons in the corner. Rummaging through the pile to find her own weapons, she picked up her belt with a knife, and two more shivs which she stuck in her boots, her own pair of Riddick-like goggles around her neck. She marched toward the entrance, stepping over Riddick's out-stretched legs as he didn't move from his spot.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" he growled in a menacingly low tone, but she continued toward the entrance, pulling her goggles over her eyes.

"I'm going after him," she replied, simply. "Someone has to. He's never been out in anything like this. And besides…" She stopped to look over her shoulder at him as he still sat, "if I recall correctly, he's my responsibility, right? That day we picked him up he came with me, not you."

With that, she marched into the storm, pulling her coat a little tighter around her. Riddick watched her figure disappear into the snow and snarled, loudly, "I hope you both get ghosted! I hope a goddamn merc lands ghosts your sorry asses!"

He slouched against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't mean it, of course, and he knew it wouldn't happen. In the time they'd been there not one ship had flown by. The ship they'd come in hadn't even picked up anything on the sensors. They were pretty safe from mercs and feds out here, it was everything else on the planet they had to worry about.

The creatures there were huge, and had senses like you wouldn't believe. They were even better than Riddick's. They could see in the dark like it was day, and they could smell, hear and see anything coming at them for miles. They stood as tall as two story buildings…on all fours, and came in colors of brown, white and black. Their claws were razor sharp and could cut through rock as if it were pudding. They were more cat-like than any other animal, and Riddick had scars from the many times they'd almost gotten the best of him.

That was the thought that made him growl and stand to get dressed and ready to head out of the cave. If they had nearly bested him, they were going to slaughter Deirdra and Fisher. Pulling on a black tank-top, his combat boots and what was left in the pile of weapons, he pulled his goggles onto his forehead but not over his eyes and trudged out of the cave.

"Damn Girl left while we were fighting!" he snarled at himself, trying to convince himself that was the reason he was going after them. "She oughtta know better than to leave without letting me screw her first!"

The truth was he knew he was going after them because he cared. Whether he liked it or not, he cared about both of them. Even that hot-headed teenage boy he secretly wished was his real son.

Outside...

Fisher tried to fight the chattering of his teeth against the cold. He hated the cold. That was the only thing he hated about this planet was the climate. Kalos was warm most of the time, and he liked it that way. He glanced around, trudging through the snow, part of him telling him to turn back but his ego wouldn't let him without something to show for it; some game of any kind that could feed them at least a week.

His sense was starting to weigh in on this 'smart' idea he'd come up with and didn't really think about clearly before he left the cave. It was telling him he was stupid for even thinking of leaving the cave without Riddick or Deirdra. He had to agree, it was looking pretty bleak, but his ego was still telling him not to go back empty handed. Just stop for a moment and wait out the storm.

He trudged through the snow, fighting the wind that was shoving him back. He looked around, squinting behind his goggles through the white all around him. Ahead of him he discerned a dark, half circle shape and sighed in relief. He fought against the wind toward the cave and once there he leaned against the wall and sighed again, letting his weary frame slide down the wall to sit on the floor.

"I'll just rest here for a while," he panted, pulling his goggles up to rest them on his forehead. He pulled out one of his shivs from his belt and twirled it, the sharp tip resting against the tip of his index finger as he held the handle in the other hand. It didn't take long for him to get bored, and as the wind howled outside, he wished he had somebody there with him to pass the time with. Maybe a female somebody?

"Yeah, right," he scoffed, leaning his head back on the wall with a smirk. "Like that's gonna happen if you stay on this rock, genius. You'll be lucky if you find a girl here."

A faint cry came from inside the cave, making him jump to his feet and turn into it. What he would have given to have Riddick's night vision at that moment. The sound was coming closer and it sounded like running footsteps. Frowning but holding his battle stance he strained his ears and eyes to see and hear what was coming. He heard panting, frantic footsteps, then a slip of something slippery, followed by a cry and a thud.

"Shit!" a voice hissed, making his frown deepen. The footsteps resumed along with the breathing, and he was nearly floored by a female voice growling, "Damn mercs ain't slavin' me out! I'd rather stay on this ice cube of a planet than-!"

It was then that she came into Fisher's view. They stood a few feet away from each other as she stopped, her sky blue eyes wide as she stared at him through a few strands of dirty blonde hair that fell around her shoulders in a tangled, curly mess. She couldn't have been more than his age and as they continued to stare at each other, he swallowed, feeling his heart thud in his chest. Her clothes may have been rags, and she may have been caked in dirt, but he could still tell she was a cute looking thing. It made him feel uneasy about his appearance.

"Goddammit! Why didn't you tie her up?"

The girl whirled around, broken from the trance at the angry shout, then turned back to Fisher and ran to him as he stood still, staring at her. She lifted his hand with the shiv and pressed it to her throat.

"Kill me!" she whispered and Fisher's eyes widened.

"What?" he hissed in confusion.

"I'd rather be dead than let them slave me out!" the girl replied, near tears. "Kill me!"

Fisher shook his head, pulling the shiv down and glanced to the darkness of the cave that obviously had an exit somewhere as he heard multiple footsteps heading toward them. He looked down at the girl again and pulled him behind her as she latched onto his arm.

"I'll protect you," he murmured, taking his fighting stance again and not being able to help smirking. He wanted action, and he was about to get some. He couldn't believe his 'fortune.' The girl didn't reply as she stayed behind him, peering around him just enough to see two mercs with gages come into view, and Fisher stiffened, maintaining his stance.

"There she is," one merc stated the obvious as they trotted to a stop a yard or two away from Fisher and the girl.

"Well, well," the other merc smirked, smugly. "Didn't think there were any natives on this ice hell." He held out a hand and beckoned him, saying, "Hand over the girl and we might leave you alive, kid."

"You want her, you'll have to go through me and my shivs," Fisher growled as the girl shook her head violently.

"Ooh, we've got a live one," the other merc smirked, pulling his gage up at Fisher. "Say goodnight then, kid."

"Wait, you idiot!" the other merc shouted, but his buddy pulled the trigger before he could throw off the gage's aim and Fisher grabbed the girl behind him to shove her out of the way, ducking out of the way himself to dodge the gage's fire.

"Don't hit the merchandise, meathead!"

"I wasn't gonna!"

The two mercs looked back at Fisher as he roared and ran at them, now with both his shivs in hand and he passed between them faster than they could blink, slicing their throats. The mercs fell to the ground, dead and bleeding as Fisher stopped, turned to them and slid his shivs back into his belt, the girl sitting at the entrance of the cave and staring on at the scene with wide eyes. He hurried back to her and pulled her up by the arm.

"Let's go," he suggested, pulling off his coat and wrapping it around her. He could take the cold for a little while. He pulled his goggles over his eyes and pulled her under his arm, feeling his heart skip when she fisted his black shirt so as not to lose him.

He led her into the snow storm which was dying down and he thanked the heavens for that. At least now he could see a little better to get her back to the cave with Deirdra and Riddick. He just hoped Riddick wouldn't try to ghost this poor girl just because she had been running from mercs.

That was one thing he let himself think on as he held tight to the mystery girl. Mercs didn't usually land here for anything, so why were they here now, and with cargo in the form of women?

"Damn! These guys are wasted!"

Fisher suddenly quickened his pace at hearing another gruff voice behind him in the cave.

"There she goes!"

"Shit!" Fisher hissed, but before he could stop them and shove her behind him, he felt something hit his back, making him shout in agony.

"No!" the girl shouted as Fisher fell to the ground, but her cry was followed by her own shout of pain and she hit the ground as well, both passing out from an instant knock out drug in the darts they'd been shot with.

Meanwhile...

"Fisher!" Deirdra called, the storm now completely spent. She'd been looking for him for an hour now, but she knew he couldn't have gotten very far. "Fisher! Fish-!"

She gave a smothered squeak when a hand covered her mouth and pulled her into the cave she was passing. She slammed against a broad chest with a muffled grunt and looked up over her shoulder into a pair of shining, silver eyes, his hand still over her mouth.

"Be quiet," Riddick ordered as she pulled his hand away from her face and she glared at him.

"Decided to come along, did you?" she teased, but he only set his jaw and held a finger over his lips, firmly telling her silently to be quiet again.

He grabbed her hand and led her deeper into the cave as she frowned. They were soon enveloped in darkness and she was tripping behind him as he marched on. She was soon tripping up an incline and finally saw a small shaft of faint light up ahead. Once they reached the light, Riddick shoved her onto her stomach as he leaned next to her, staring outside.

The opening of the cave led to a plateau of snow, cut off after a mile or so by a cliff that led to a frozen river. They were now staring at a ship sitting on the plateau, a ship that looked a lot like a merc cargo ship.

Deirdra pulled a knife from her belt, eyeing the mercs outside the ship and she moved to stand and charge them but Riddick placed a firm hand on the wrist that held the knife. She looked at him with a frown of confusion and he only stared ahead, answering her silent question with a nod that she look ahead as well. She shot her gaze ahead and stifled a gasp when she saw a line of people, all in chains, being led into the ship…one of them being Fisher.

His hands were chained up behind his back and he was yanking his arm from the merc trying to hold it and shove him into the ship. He turned and growled at the merc, but the merc only kicked him in the stomach just as they reached the top of the gangplank. Deirdra was again trying to scramble to her feet, but Riddick swiftly threw an arm around her to grab her arms and use his weight to hold her down on the stone below them.

Unfortunately, she began struggling and the scuffle caused some loose ice and iced rocks to tumble down the incline they were leaning on. The pattering noises echoed in the hollow of the cave and just as the mercs standing outside turned to look at what made the noise, Riddick slapped his hand over Deirdra's mouth and wrapped his arm around her, pinning her arms down and he sunk them both down the incline, enough to be out of sight.

Deirdra still struggled slightly, tears forming in her eyes, wanting to help Fisher more than anything, and willing to risk her life at that moment. Riddick pulled her closer and she eventually gave up on struggling against his strength, sobbing silently into his hands and letting her tears flow freely.

"Alright, let's get off this rock," they heard one of the mercs call. "These guys need to be at Lord Olmstead's yesterday."

Riddick frowned as he watched the mercs trail into the cargo ship and the hatch sealed as he still held Deirdra, now limp in his arms. He pulled his hand away from Deirdra's mouth to hear her shudder, sob, sniffle and cough, but he watched the merc ship lift off and shoot off into the sky.

"They're gone," he reported, sliding his arms from around Deirdra.

She spun around to pound her fists against his chest. It caught him off guard and he gave a grunt when the first punch landed harder than he thought it would. The next punch landed on his gut and he saw the wind-up when her leg flew back and was about to connect with his groin, but he crossed his wrists at her ankle, stopping it just before it hit him.

"You don't want to do that, Girl," he murmured, lowly as he looked up at her, meeting her burning, chocolate gaze.

"Oh, yes I do," she snapped through clenched teeth. "Then you'd know how I feel! Fisher was being taken by mercs and you just sat here! What the hell is going through that goddamn head of yours?"

"What's going through yours?" he retorted, shoving her foot away from him and making her slip slightly on the stone they were still leaning against. "What the shit were you gonna do? Take them all on?"

"There weren't that many!" she argued. "What? Getting too old for a good fight, Riddick? Between you and me we could have taken them all out!"

"Sometimes, the best thing to do is surrender," he replied, ignoring her 'old' comment. They both knew he could throw down anybody, even if he was a little older.

"Oh, like the time we ended up in Ursa Luna?" Deirdra shot back, still seething. "He won't survive in a slam, Riddick!"

"He's not going to a slam," he reported.

"How the hell do you know that?" she spat.

"The merc said they were going to some guy named Lord Olmstead," Riddick replied. "Weren't you listening?"

"No!" she admitted, in a shout. "I was too busy crying at the fact that our son was being taken by mercs!"

"The next time you say he's our son, I'm gonna bitch slap you so hard, that wind woman who pushed you on me is gonna feel it!" Riddick snarled. "He ain't our kid!"

"Keep telling yourself that, Riddick," Deirdra replied lowly, suddenly calm. "But no matter what you say, he's like a son to me, and you can't change that. I'm going after him."

"Like hell you are," Riddick ground out as she started sliding herself down the incline, ignoring him.

He quickly went after her and when they reached the end of the incline he ran after her and grabbed her arm to pull her toward him. She stared into his shining eyes, the only things she could see in the pitch black darkness, and he stared back at her.

"He wanted some action," he snapped. "He wanted to be stupid and head out without one of us, unprepared for anything else he could run into out there and without knowing where the hell he was going, and this is what he gets. It's a hard lesson he's gonna learn, but he's gonna learn it now, whether he likes it or not."

Shoving her as he let her go he headed back to the entrance of the cave as Deirdra stayed where she was, facing the sound of his footsteps. She glared at the place where she estimated his back was, and knowing what she was thinking of saying would probably get her killed, she said it anyway.

"You'd let him end up like her?"

His footsteps stopped. There was silence for a few moments, and before she even registered that he was moving again, she felt cold metal against her neck, but she didn't move, or gasp, or even flinch. She had seen that coming.

"What the shit did you just say?" he growled, menacingly.

"I believe you heard me," she retorted, unafraid of his tone or the fact that his blade was now starting to move up just a little on her neck.

"I wouldn't hesitate to cut your throat, Deirdra," he growled, and she knew he'd stepped closer to loom over her by the fan of his hot breath over her face. "She went and signed up with the goddamn mercs. This kid just got himself pinched. He ain't exactly helpless. And I swear, if you ever mention that again, I'll slit your throat faster than you can blink. You know I can."

"You can," she admitted. "But you won't."

"I've done it before," he growled, not moving the knife from her neck.

"You've killed a woman you were in love with?" she wondered, lifting her hands to rest it on his hand, still at her neck. "With your bare hands?"

"Don't test me," he growled, warningly as he felt her fingers gently wrap around his hand.

"You're not answering my question," she retorted, pulling the knife from her neck and lowering her chin. Knowing he could see her in the dark she ran her tongue carefully over the blade in front of her. Riddick couldn't believe how quickly his pants suddenly tightened. "Have you killed a woman you're in love with?"

"No," he finally admitted and Deirdra lowered the knife to step completely in front of him.

"Then you won't kill me," she smiled triumphantly, running her hands up his chest.

"If you mention her again the way you just did," he began, gripping one of her wrists and spinning her around to hold his knife at her neck again from behind this time and finished against her ear, "I just might."

"Quit with the foreplay so we can go get Fisher," she muttered.

That earned her a shove as Riddick pulled his shiv away from her neck and walked toward the entrance of the cave again.

"You're on your own with that one," he replied and she spun around and glared at him before running after him. She was about to tackle him but he spun around just in time to move and grab her hand, pull her back toward him and plant his lips to hers. After kissing her deeply, he grumbled, "You're not gonna let this go, are you?"

"Never," she replied, breathless from his kiss. "He may not be our son, but he's always been like one to me."

Riddick sighed, letting her go as she stared up at him, waiting for his answer.

"Fine," he growled and shoved past her and out of the cave. "Let's get what we'll need and get to the ship."

A/N: and there it is! intrigued yet? lol! reviews?