FSE

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///

Perth, ANZU

October 28th

One year ago

Bedsprings.

Shifting sheets.

Shaky, irregular breathing.

Perhaps that was all there was to hear but his heartbeat wouldn't have had to be much louder.

He opened his eyes again, gray and orange fur tickling his cheek. His muzzle was buried in the fur under the coyote's neck.

Another newer, better sensation racked through him and a gasp escaped his muzzle, arms tightening around the torso of his partner.

"I-Is it okay if I"-

"Fuck yeah..."

After the brief moment the coyote began to work harder, each contact bringing out a whimper in the other.

He stopped propping himself up with his elbows, collapsing onto the pillows and letting it happen, muzzles now touching near the ends.

In the moments before he felt the bedsheets tighten as the coyote dug his hands into them...

They both gave a genuine moan as Harrison finished, then a gasp of pain as the one underneath him dug his nails into the coyote's back.

"...Can you maybe not do that?"

"Thought it turned you on."

"It fuckin' hurts."

"So does getting fucked in the ass, Harrison."

"You seem to enjoy it."

They looked down at each other for a moment, eyes holding contact.

Riddick leaned up and kissed his love, holding it for a good while.

Moments like this were incredibly rare, and you had to take what you could get...

Pulling away he almost felt alone again.

"We're probably going to be in this position for a while..."

"I don't mind." With a tired grin Harrison laid on top of the hyena, Riddick wrapping his arms around him.

"You staying here tonight?"

"Gotta text my folks, they won't mind."

"...Have you told them yet?"

"If they don't know by now it would be a... either a miracle or a tragedy."

Even worse was the moment the coyote's grin faded, bright orange eyes dulled.

"They still think you're going out with Felicia though, right?"

"Yeah, she's still covering... I mean, if anything they probably think I'm bi at this point."

"Because we hang out so much? We've been friends since before kindergarten."

"I started coming over here more after you came out... I dunno, maybe they think I'm tapping you to get off or something." Riddick gave a quiet chuckle, no response from Harrison.

He felt the coyote adjust, nuzzling up his neck and under his muzzle.

"The sooner you get it out of the way, the better. Not like your folks are religious anyways."

"Just worried about my dad... And Roger."

"You're almost 18 anyways, they can't keep you for long."

"Then I'll wait until after I'm 18."

A sigh from Harrison.

Riddick stared at the ceiling now with dead eyes. What sounds had once filled the room had been replaced by the click of Harrison's room's fan, driving him up the wall.

The hyena always made him tape the cord to the light whenever he came over, but Harrison liked the noise.

He didn't have a life to live anymore. Unless he somehow made it out of the ANZU in one piece, and no one made it out alive.

Even if he got rid of his card they still had him in the database and officers would come for him.

Fucking GRA, throwing people at the coast like they'd be anything but cannon fodder.

A meat shield in the Sea of Blood so DeSanta could keep Thailand and nibble at the Middle East.

The population was mostly middle aged people at this point because the young were all sent to war.

"Riddick?"

"What?"

"You alright?"

"...Fuck off."

Another sigh. Anyone else would be hurt but it was just the thorny personality of the hyena showing through. His friends were used to it.

///

Riddick

G201 House, Scandinavian Union, Norway

December 8th, 1200 hours

"Riddick? You good in there?"

He snapped awake, rage filling him in an instant.

He wanted to scream at the door, beat the shit out of something, maybe whoever was unfortunate enough to be behind it...

"I-I don't mean to wake you up again, but it's 12 and Isaac wanted me to come get you."

Tai.

...

With a mumble, Riddick stood up.

For the first night in almost three months he hadn't gone to bed high, or drunk, or medicated in some way. He felt healthy mentally for once.

But it hurt like the devil, like it did every morning. Maybe better or worse.

"One sec."

He heard footsteps away and his heart jumped.

"Tai! Wait up, will you?"

A response, the footsteps returned to just outside the door.

"We running sims?"

"Yeah, everyone's waiting on you."

"Christ..."

Pulling on a hoodie to finish, his phone buzzed from inside the pocket.

Probably Evan or some other random guy he'd met at a bar and ended up sleeping with. If Isaac didn't commandeer them the whole day... Then again it had been a few days since Thailand, almost a week or two. He'd snap them back-

Oh. Dad.

Somewhat hesitant, he hadn't called him in a month like he was supposed to.

Call every week, that was.

Riddick let the ring stop and then sent a quick text. He'd get back to him later. Busy.

"I don't want to keep Isaac long, he's in a bad mood"-

"Just a sec, Tai."

The room was a fucking mess. Now that he'd come to his senses he could see it.

Ugh, he didn't even want to see the bathroom.

Actually, he had to piss-

"Riddick?"

With a groan, he opened the door and they began walking at a brisk pace towards the stairs.

"...You alright?"

It took the hyena a moment to process it didn't come from him for once.

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

Riddick shoved his hands in his pockets.

He didn't know what to say. He never fucking did. What the hell was he supposed to say? Homesick? He hated that place. Harrison? He wished that son of a bitch was dead. He'd kill him if he saw him.

And he didn't want to talk about anything in the first place.

"I'm sure."

Tai said nothing else the whole way there, and neither did he.

He could talk about how weird the cat had been acting, skirting around Lio and Mari and Kyle... And Reyna... And...

Most of the time Tai had been doing stuff in his room. Hadn't even left one day.

As they walked down the concrete tunnel to the end and the simulation room, Isaac was waiting outside the door.

Of course he was.

"You keep this shit up, you're out of G201."

"For being late to sims?" Everyone turned up late, there was always someone holding it up.

In fact, Riddick could count on one hand how many times he'd been delayed at most ten minutes to the now around 100 simulations they'd run.

Fucking five hands for Rochelle but she got no reprimand at all.

"Fuck you say to me, Private White?"

"Wha-? I didn't say anything."

"If you have something you need to fucking tell me, you can say it loud to my face where everyone else can hear."

"Nothing came out of my muzzle. Swear."

And he hadn't. If anything he could control his mouth.

...

To the degree where he kept it shut.

...

Mostly.

"Tell you what; Alcatraz, you might as well put the syringes back, we're going to wait here until Roland tells us what he muttered under his breath."

Isaac leaned on the doorframe, and everyone looked at Riddick, back between the two.

"Sir, I don't think"-

"Shut up, Alvin."

Dead silence.

Tai shuffled beside Riddick.

If the cat had said anything he would have heard it. Isaac wouldn't have though; his voice didn't carry that far.

"Isaac... Nobody said anything."

Riddick looked around for who had enough authority to have their voice go unchallenged before he even designated the voice or accent.

The cat. Again.

"...Hearing ghosts again. Back to it, squad."

Wait, what the fuck?

Shocked, Riddick turned to see Tai already walking back towards a chair, hands in the hoodie that got mixed up in the wash again.

"White. Hurry the fuck up."

Riddick did as he was asked, hurrying to a chair beside Tai's.

The cat calmly injected himself with the knockout serum, Riddick still couldn't formulate the words. And everyone else was dead silent.

The fact that Tai actually spoke up about anything was enough; but that he was able to get away with it so seamlessly was...

"We're going to try something new this time. You'll be split into two teams. Don't know if you ever played capture the flag in gym or anything but that's basically what we're going to do. You'll come back but don't get reckless; this is to help your aim and strategy. No one's expendable."

The slightest breath escaped Tai's mouth, as if he knew something.

Isaac injected himself and sat down.

The knockout serum was really fuckin' strong compared to last time...

...

///

He woke up lying on the ground, the slight elevation of a bulletproof vest and a headset keeping his head off the concrete.

Riddick stood and staggered for a moment.

Shipping containers, a few small buildings, two big ones along either side.

A maze in the middle with different levels and chokepoints with two different levels. Maybe more.

Hard to defend, easy to get in...

He realized it was 5 to either side to be even.

Isaac wasn't on his team... GG already.

As the rest of the team stood he observed.

Reyna. That would only somewhat make up for Isaac but if Kyle wasn't here too...

Mari. He reckoned a medic didn't have any place here but she was kick-ass enough.

Alvin. Guaranteed defender but the whole place looked close-quarters for a sniper...

And Tai... Could go any way.

"This is balanced?"

Reyna looked around with almost disgust.

"Don't get your panties in a knot, Trojan. It's winnable." Mari's shotgun resounded as she pumped it.

Riddick almost expected Reyna to cap her or something but the jackal ignored it, moving towards the left building.

Alvin was already getting set up on a stack of containers behind them, the flag beside Tai-

No, the cat was gone.

Biting his lip, he took off towards the right building.

Uncoordinated. If things weren't looking bad enough...

"Riddick! Set up the tripwires on the right!"

"Trip- there's nothing to rig it to... I don't even have"-

"Hurry up, I can hear him already!"

Mari's voice was strained, lifting herself into an overwatch position inside an open crate hanging from a crane. He had no clue how she scaled it so fast...

Scratching his head, Riddick ran to the right building and pulled a coil from his belt he just noticed on the way over.

Apparently he did...? It hardly surprised him, so much weird shit was going on...

Rigging it to the entrance, it was a stretch and he snipped and planted the other end quickly.

A metal clanking sound was coming from somewhere, accompanied by a low hum.

He had no idea what it was but he'd heard it- or at least the hum outside a few times.

He stepped over the wire. Stairs and a ladder onto a catwalk and scaffolding respectively, and he could go around the stairs where there were more crates and cover on the first level.

Or maybe Alvin needed some help back there. He had Mari but she was really only defensive in the sense that if someone grabbed the flag and ran she could-

He felt something slam into him like a truck and it went black for a moment.

Staggering backwards as soon as he came back, he hit a shipping crate.

"What... What the fuck?"

Gunfire, the first close rounds fired.

He rushed around and back to the flag area to see Mari pinned and Lio firing at her from the side he'd set the tripwire on.

The jaguar was using an LMG, maybe that was what hit him so hard, but damn, it felt like an AT or something...

Taking the side angle, Riddick gunned him down easily and called out the kill. Mari reemerged from the container.

Just as he did Reyna shoved past him and aimed for the left.

She could be stuck up sometimes but...

As he looked at Reyna something strange clicked in his head.

It stopped when she fired and he watched Jake stagger from the left building and fall.

Aiming at the left building from the crate's entrance, he fanned out to a position under Mari's crate.

A loud bout of gunfire and a growl just above... He looked up and aimed back, trusting Reyna to watch his left flank.

But her gunfire ceased.

What was coming from Mari's crate was a heavy AR's shot that he could match with one person...

As Mari's body fell onto a crate below with a loud sound he turned to see Reyna on the ground as well, and turning back he took a shot straight to the skull, a fox staring down at him.

Reyna was right. This was bullshit.

"BLUE TEAM HAS THE FLAG!"

It echoed out through the entire place even in the void Riddick was in.

As he came out, it seemed longer for a moment...

Four casualties he knew of... Two were him.

Alvin probably dropped considering he was nowhere to be found.

Tai had to be embedded somewhere near their flag.

Riddick moved back out only to hear gunfire ring for a moment and not even feel the pain this time.

Fuck...

"RED TEAM HAS THE ENEMY FLAG!"

What?

As he rematerialized he almost forgot Isaac must have been watching their base...

Tai had weaseled his way in past the assault. They couldn't cap as long as their flag was held...

Riddick sprang to fire Isaac but found he'd already just dropped, Alvin already shoving his body out of the hanging crate.

"Tripwire! We have a few seconds!"

Still with little idea about why they needed them, Riddick took the cord from his belt but stopped realizing just jogging over had taken time.

That clanking noise and the hum. The same from last time...

What could possibly-

Someone barreled into him with enough force to send him flying into a crate, and they skidded next to him.

Lio rolled to his feet but momentum made him hit the crate standing, and over Riddick.

The jaguar hefted his LMG like last time and Alvin dropped from the crate, having been setting up position and unprepared.

Riddick fished his sidearm out before immense and shocking pain ripped through his right arm, bones crunching audibly.

He cried out as Lio scuffed his foot to Riddick's wrist, blood spurting out onto his face...

What the hell?! How was he so strong in the lower-

A gunshot to the head ended Riddick for the fourth time.

Coming back took almost 30 seconds and the downtime was killing him.

No one had dropped the flags yet. Blue team was probably at their base waiting for someone to root out Tai, and Tai was probably hiding somewhere waiting for a push to Blue team.

Which was not going to fucking happen.

More LMG fire. Lio- and Kyle's own slow and heavy fire. The timber wolf must have been on defense but now that Blue team realized they might as well just get it over with...

He was giving nothing to the team and it was time to return.

Riddick didn't go the usual route from base but instead climbed up the same crate he'd been thrown into just a moment ago, giving him a view of the left building and the two firing.

He ended Lio first out of more grudge than anything and Kyle's reflexes allowed a short turn before Reyna finished him too.

With a tacit nod, Reyna gunned down someone coming out of the right building and began setting a tripwire.

"BLUE TEAM HAS DROPPED OUR FLAG!"

Mari's shotgun resounded in the maze of crates and Riddick watched her run back with the red flag; and the cat holding the blue.

They planted in the same order, and somehow they'd tipped the odds and scored first...

More gunfire and Reyna backed out of the shipping container maze, one hand on a sidearm and the other on a stomach wound.

"M-Mari?"

"What? I didn't bring any meds this time."

"Fuck..."

Watching Reyna wince with every step Riddick was more shocked than pitying, that she would show any sign of weakness.

After all most of the time the blood mixed with her dark fur and you wouldn't even know unless she told you.

Suddenly it was as if he had two minds and they were thinking drastically different things especially of people, the intrusion screaming for him to look at things the right way and his own muffling it...

He ducked back into base for a moment to breathe.

What the fuck...?

It had been happening a lot for the past while, especially when he'd been drunk...

Migraines, even in simulations?

Gunshots close again.

"BLUE TEAM HAS THE FLAG!"

Gotta be fucking kidding...

Riddick popped out and got a lucky shot dead between Rochelle's eyes, her head snapping back as she dropped.

Alvin took Jake just as he moved back out, getting put back down again by Kyle.

Seizing the moment, Riddick sprayed the timber wolf down and watched as Lio moved around the corner, just a streak of yellow.

Naturally it had to be the fucking jaguar carrying the flag...

Sprinting for the left building, Lio had somehow traversed the entire length of it just like that and the streak of yellow was left.

"BLUE TEAM HAS SCORED!"

What the...

That was impossible, there was no way he could have gotten that far so quick...

Someone ran past him- Alvin- and stopped to aim.

Unless Isaac was coming there was no way anyone was going to come back so fast-

A sudden burst from Alvin made him jump and a louder bang resounded as Lio's body careened at high speeds into a shipping container as he rounded the corner.

"Fuck, what did you hit him with?"

Alvin gave him a strange look. "Bullets."

They advanced before the relapse and already heard gunfire ahead, a suppressed sound he couldn't tell from Reyna or Tai.

"One minute on the clock..." Alvin went on.

"Should we double back and hold out for a tie?"

"I think it's best we kind of midfield... Mari can hold it down."

"...I don't hear Tai anymore."

Almost immediately after a burst of suppressed fire caught Isaac and he stumbled in around the same trajectory of Lio, but not nearly as fast.

Alvin panicked and fired a single shot into the fox's head, a gruesome wet crack splitting the air.

"Fuck..."

"Let's move up, Tai's probably pinned if he's still up there and hasn't got the flag."

More gunfire erupted as they moved up, and Riddick winced as he heard a shotgun resound back at base.

Kyle had to be the only one down there, it all depended on who could get the drop on who...

Alvin suddenly dropped beside him and Riddick dove for cover, identifying the almost Jinn sounding SMG fire as Rochelle.

A laugh afterwards confirmed it. Fucking psychopath...

"Trying to hide? I brought some goodies this time around!"

Bloody hell, what was she going to do...?

A metal clanging sound as a tin can with nails pointing out of it rolled in front of him.

With a cry of fear and rage he rapidly grabbed two sheets of plywood and threw them on it, the firecracker-like explosion sending only a few nails through the board.

One drilled right beside his ear.

"I'm pretty sure that's a fucking war crime!"

"They didn't let me use a baseball bat, I gotta have something!"

Footsteps running towards him. Rochelle wasn't playing patient, he didn't expect her to...

His gun was lying near Alvin with nails in it.

Both of them, to be exact...

Ripping his sidearm from the holster and pivoting around to face Rochelle, she kicked it out of his hand and then kicked his muzzle up with her other leg.

Rolling back, at least she didn't mod her boots with spikes or anything...

Blood flowed freely from his mouth, the pain was numb and cold.

Throbbing.

"Riddick's in here! Let me 'ave him!"

Kyle had just rounded the corner, but with the faintest hint of a smile he turned around.

Judging from the gunfire back at Red base no help was coming.

"I don't think we ever had a real 1 on 1, kukri and knives?"

He said nothing, his jaw was probably beyond fucked so there was no point in responding.

Rochelle drew two wicked looking blades he'd never seen on her before, almost shortswords and double edged.

He didn't like his chances but she'd given him one of the dirtiest possible advantages.

If it came down to it he wouldn't hesitate...

They began a slow circle and he was surprised she hadn't just rushed him off the bat.

Instead he was the first to strike with a backanded spin, counter to the direction they were circling to catch her off guard.

It did as intended and she almost lost a knife, but in her stagger her leg shot out and caught his closest shin, catching him off balance.

Rochelle dashed at him and the trade went in her favor, and now he was on the defensive...

Trying to block was death against people with two weapons, trying to interrupt the dance was key.

He'd never fought her, and there was only one dual wielder he knew at one point, the same that trained him.

She expected the jab and spun around to his back, forcing him to dash forward and then turn to block the onslaught.

Holy shit, she was a lot better than he even thought...

He switched to his left hand to keep a more closed stance to her dominant hand.

Rochelle's sudden discomfort as she matched it was noted, maybe this was how he won...

Once again the deadly foxtrot ensued, and he formulated a plan.

Get her into the motions, working up the chain, and do something to punish her habits.

As he jabbed and she spun he roared, blood and spittle flying as he shouldered her with more force than he thought he had in him.

She slammed into a crate, swiping at the air but he'd given her space.

As he moved in she gave a weak grin and threw a knife at him, lodging in his left ear.

Howling with pain and fury, it was almost a scream as he felt the tissue leave him in a bloody heap with her blade on the ground.

He hadn't felt this much pain since the incendiaries...

On the verge of throwing up, disgustedly he kicked his severed ear and the blade out of her reach. He'd die of blood loss before she claimed him...

Gunfire still back at Red base. No help.

As she got back up with one blade it was more evenly matched, but he had a busted jaw and his fucking ear was ten feet away now...

As she rushed in he decided he'd had enough.

Spitting blood in her face, the torrent came like a feral reptile's venom and she cried out in shock as her white fur was painted his red.

To his own surprise he smashed his decimated skull against hers with a cry of hatred, her own blood adding to the mix as it coated the top of his head.

Riddick got one look at her mismatched, frenzied eyes as a blind stab erupted dead center of his chest, scraping his sternum and slipping into the ribs beside it.

With a final motion he slashed out and connected with the side of her head, the mutt spinning and falling onto her face.

The decimation of the critical strike was unseen but she looked fucked up enough covered from the brow down in his spat blood.

He said something along the lines of 'fuck' but it came out as a bubbly sound and tasted like god knows...

A clap from the other end of the building, the fox.

Riddick sank to his knees, arms open to his sides and head lolling.

He felt like a pile of... something.

Isaac finished his clap and finished him off with a quick shot to the skull.

"BLUE TEAM, VICTORY!"

What a fucking surprise...

///

"Roland, you twat!"

He rubbed his eyes, a burn behind them.

"You spat blood on me!"

"You threw a damn nail bomb..."

"W- Rochelle, what did I tell you about those?"

"There's not a referee in open combat, sir!"

"They'll bust your ass for it when you get back home..."

Isaac seemed exhausted not only mentally but physically.

Everyone else had visible sweat around their collars but seemed energized.

"Good work, everyone. Red team, you did excellent but this operation didn't play to your strengths. Get used to that happening, especially you, Alvin. Someone had to take the L. Private White, you were easily the most lacking member of that entire game. I expected more. You're free to use the rest of the day at leisure, we'll meet back here at... 1 A.M."

Riddick scowled, everyone else groaned at the strange time but Isaac was trying to get them on an almost nocturnal sleep schedule.

The fox left the room just like that, he'd expected a lengthy rant at himself actually. Isaac had a sharp dislike for him and today didn't help.

"You're not pissed at me, are you?"

Rochelle's brown and denim eyes were vibrant in the darkness of the server room, and he could see the rise and fall of her chest as if she'd been doing physical work.

"No. It's just a simulation."

"Good, I wanted you to take me to that coffee place later. They won't let me drive anymore."

They'd gotten a new van after the last one went missing, he guessed that was her doing.

He muttered something incoherent.

Rochelle did have a streak of pissing him off, he wasn't sure why he hung out with her so much.

Back home those were the kind of people Roger never wanted him hanging out with even though he surrounded himself with them.

Maybe Riddick was just starting to wrap his head around it.

His older brother was genuinely trapped in his life of crime and all he wanted to do was join him.

Could tell himself he just wanted to be hard but it was really that he just missed Roger to shit.

Standing there, as Rochelle carried on, he realized just who he could have become if he never got drafted. He could have made money. Moved out of the ANZU. Tech people were in demand and he was one of the finest- the odd jobs he'd gotten over the summer brought in more money than dad's entire mechanics shop.

"You can scream pretty loud, Rid. I'm actually impressed."

"Screw off. And don't go so overboard next time."

"You headbutted me, you twat."

As he was about to leave a bit of white not on Rochelle's side caught his eye and he realized Tai was still sitting in his chair.

Turning around, Rochelle cut off as she saw the cat there too.

He wasn't moving, breathing or otherwise.

A slow trickle of red fluid came from the corner of his mouth.

His eyes were blank, staring at the ceiling.

Neither of them said nothing, surely they weren't looking at a corpse...

"Rochelle, do you have a gun on you?"

"Is Tai"-

"Do you have a fucking gun or not?"

"Ye"-

"Give. It."

"Wha"-

"IF YOU DON'T...."

She shoved the pistol into his hands, the more paranoid of the two.

He aimed it at Tai, unsure of exactly why he was doing it.

The migraine was back and worse than ever. It was throbbing in his head and he'd felt better with his jaw unhinged and his ear separated.

Do it.

But why-

Fucking do it or he's going to kill you. Again.

What do you mean? Why would I... I need to help him, he's having a seizure or some-

FUCKING DO

Rochelle slapped the gun out of his hand, looking at him shocked.

He stared back, fear in his eyes and the anger dried up.

Tai stood up from the chair and wiped at the red coming from his mouth.

The cat looked around quizzically.

"No one woke me up? You know I go under a little late..."

He noticed the other two standing in the room.

"My lip busted or something, do either of you have, like, a tissue or anything?"

Neither of them said a word, the gun on the floor was on safety the whole time. Otherwise surely Tai would have been-

"I thought you were fucking dead!"

"...What?"

"You weren't breathing, you were just laying there- I'm calling Marshall." Rochelle made a fuss over Tai and Riddick would have laughed any other day, any other time as she took his hand and led him down the passage back up the stairs.

The hyena stared at the chair Tai was sitting in as if he was still there.

He realized his breathing had accelerated to wheezes, and he began to hack.

Doubling over, he grabbed a chair for support and staggered over to the bin in the corner.

Retching, nothing but spit and phlegm came up.

A cry and another gag as something threw him back, the feeling of shards of glass breaking into his back and crack of wood as those red eyes stared down...

As he woke from the waking dream, he gasped and scrambled up, moving to the door.

Breathing became wheezes again, and he leaned on the doorframe.

He felt like he was going to die. His lungs were burning up and so was his throat, pounding with each breath fire...

He was giving up smoking if he made it through this, he decided then and there.

Sinking a little, as it passed for the moment he nearly fell out on the way back up to his room.

///

Whirr of the laptop's fan as it turned on, muffled by the sheets of the forever unmade bed.

With a sniff, he propped himself up on a pillow to save his wrists.

Marshall had come earlier and he'd actually yelled at Tai, Riddick couldn't make out the words but he was pretty sure everyone could hear it.

It went on a while and when Riddick gave in and went downstairs to get something to wash the taste of vomit and cold winter from his mouth he saw Marshall storming out.

Could have sworn the wolf was crying for a moment, no sniffing or noises but just wet eyes. Maybe he'd yelled that hard.

Peering down the kitchen hallway he heard another angry voice, and saw the cat storm after him shouting at the top of his lungs.

He'd never seen Tai lose his shit before but everyone else said he had a few times in front of everyone, even at Riddick.

But he didn't remember that at all. Just the times Tai called him a 'peasant' of all things.

If anything this was what he'd expected all along.

A terrifying, enigmatic native of Gibraltar's hell who could shrink you with his voice and had a temper worse than his. He was used to killing you for minor disagreements.

Tai hadn't killed anyone here yet but Riddick's heart said he somehow had.

The hyena could have never seen the Tai from three months ago turning into this, he knew like 2 swear words for crying out loud.

Almost wondered if it was his product.

So opening up the proxies and the database, he almost wasn't surprised to find Tai's file just as restricted as Isaac.

Moroccan or maybe Spanish, assumed 19.

That was it. That was the entire entry.

Normally Riddick would try and hijack a new account that had access but it was always a gamble, and he'd come to find out the economy was filled with a 23% access on average.

He'd have to ditch this 80 something percent account at some point before they noticed him but he would take what he could get for now.

Disappointed, he went through the painstaking process of removing all the layers of defense.

Almost 30 minutes afterwards his text editor opened.

A misclick, likely.

He moved the touchpad to exit it but a sudden circular motion took his cursor, swinging wide around his screen.

Riddick moved it to find he had no control.

Mouth open, he watched it move to his settings and adjust the sensitivity before the circular motion went back again, sped up.

It moved to the text document again.

He didn't hit the keys at all but they spelled out on the screen.

"Why are you on that file"

Heart beating faster, someone must have hijacked his laptop...

It minimized the text file and in ten seconds tops removed all the rest of the proxies.

Riddick read the text over a few times.

Hesitantly his fingers came to the keys.

"Who is this"

"Unimportant. I need an answer"

The reply was near instant, line switched immediately after the last s was typed.

Just as he was going to reach the keys again, another line started.

"Roland White. G201 Private First Class. Family in Perth, 2614 Marburry St."

His heart stopped.

"What do you want"

"Why are you interested in Tai"

For the countless time that day his breathing became unsteady, heart pounded in his chest.

"He's"

He wasn't sure what to put afterwards. He wasn't sure why he hadn't just cold shut down his laptop.

"He's an afflict and too unstable to serve. You won't get anywhere but killed poking around like that"

His eyes narrowed.

Afflict. Tai had some sort of disease, probably a mental illness. He'd already gathered that. No surprise.

"What's so important that they'll kill me"

He didn't know who they were but he suspected whoever was on the other end might be.

"Who are you"

This time he typed after the long silence. He still couldn't move his touchpad so they were still there.

"Reyna and Isaac aren't who you think they are"

"What the fuck..." He said it audibly, fear coursing through him.

"Stay safe. If I need you I'll contact you"

He repeated the previous statement and the touchpad was his again.

The room was dead silent, only the fan clicking.

The fan had never clicked before.

...

He wanted to punch it but he'd regret it later.

Calmly, he taped it to the light.

Whatever was going on Tai was in the middle of it.

G201 was caught up in it.

And whatever it was about Reyna and Isaac...

There was something fucking wrong with them. And Tai. He remembered the spraypaint on the side of the house-

Someone opened the door without knocking and he had his sights on them in an instant.

"Can you... Level your weapon?"

Kyle slowly raised his hands up, not looking scared at all.

"Lower? Is that the word?"

"W-what..." He found he was wheezing again, and began to cough.

As he lowered the pistol Kyle's hands stayed up, his neck turning away slightly.

"If now is not a good time..."

"Just... No, I can.. W-what do you need?"

"I was thinking we'd look into Isaac."

"What do you mean?"

Kyle slowly brought his hands down and closed the door behind him.

"Isaac. We haven't cracked at his file in some time. Looking it over we might find something of note."

"...What?"

"Not you too... Everyone's been forgetting things lately."

Riddick said nothing, instead laying back on his pillow and staring at the ceiling.

"I think they're experimenting on us. The GRA. I read about a squad in Lisbon that"-

"Kyle, I'm going to bed."

For a moment, nothing.

"Well... Bednight."

With caution Kyle reopened and closed the door behind him.

As it slid shut, Riddick watched a red light flash locked.

He didn't... Remember that. Just regular doors.

...

Fuck.

"Who the hell says bednight...?"

Riddick cut his light off and tried to fall asleep.

///

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

If I put too much emphasis on 'bednight' it's an inside joke between me and a reader

At this point I'm actually trying to kind of antagonize Tai

Idk exactly when but you'll see why soon haha

Gonna try and get more Rochelle into these chapters. I think I might have mentioned this before but she was actually meant to take the role of Riddick and Riddick was just a background character but somehow it flip flopped

She's too interesting to waste idk

Alright enough increasing my wordcount