"Come on Kid, you and I both knew that I couldn't stick around forever, I have to keep moving."

"But Riddick…" Jack stopped speaking when Riddick placed the tip of his index finger against her lips.

"Ya gotta be more careful Jack, you can't say that name, only when we're at Imam's house." He said and his hand dropped to his side.

"But Rick, I just thought, I had hoped that…"

"That I would stay."

"Yeah." Jack said looked down and suddenly she was being drawn into Riddick's tight embrace. It had taken him a while to get used to hugging, now he enjoyed it because he knew that it made her happy to be wrapped in his arms, lifting whatever dark mood she had been in. She put her arms around his slight waist and cried into his black shirt, her sobs muffled against the fabric. She could feel his athletic under armor under it, the cotton of the long sleeved shirt sliding against the smooth spandex like material. She knew what he looked like in it without an over shirt on and the image of the material forming to the large, hard muscles of his chest and arms had frequented her dreams and fantasies for weeks. "Where are you gonna go?" she asked, taking her face out of his chest.

"Somewhere secluded, somewhere not many people know about and definitely won't go to. Passed by a couple planets like that when I was on the run a few years ago. But I think one of them was our personal hell, so I'm thinking about skipping over that." He said and she chuckled despite her tears. She didn't know how he could do that, make her laugh no matter what kind of mood she was in. It's one of reasons that she fell in love with him.

He had no idea how she felt about him of course, he thought she still hero-worshipped him, and she did for the most part. But somewhere in the three years that he was on New Mecca, she fell in love with him. He was all she ever thought about, all she ever wrote about in her journal, and he was all she ever dreamed about when she slept. He was the first thing she thought of when she woke up in the morning and the last thing she thought of before she went to sleep at night. If that wasn't love, she didn't care to know what was.

Riddick started to idly smooth back her dark blonde shoulder length hair and her eyes closed lightly, getting lost in the feeling of his hand on her hair, touching her forehead and temple from time to time as it went past.

"I have to leave now Jack." He said after a moment and her tears returned. "Hey, I'll send comms as frequently as I can. Okay?" he asked cupping her jaw and she nodded. "Oh and happy birthday." Tomorrow was her sixteenth birthday, but she knew she wouldn't enjoy it, because her greatest gift of all was leaving. "My launch window is soon, I really gotta get going." During the three years Riddick had raised enough money doing cloak-and-dagger jobs, that she so didn't want to know about, to buy a small ship, really only big enough for one, maybe two people at the most. If she were turning eighteen she would ask Riddick to take her with him, but she wasn't and if he did take her with him, even with Imam's permission it would be considered kidnapping, stupid laws.

"Okay Riddick." She whispered and felt his lips press against her forehead, almost getting lost in that feeling too. But he didn't feel that way about her; she knew this for certain because he once confessed to her that he loved her like a kid sister. Her heart had skipped a beat when he said 'love' but had imploded when he said 'like a kid sister'. They pulled away from each other and he wiped her tears away with the pad of his thumb.

"See ya Kid." He said and he was gone like a shadow in the night, vanishing into the crowds instantly. Imam, who had been standing a ways back to give them some 'privacy', came over and put a fatherly hand on her shoulder.

"Come child, let us go home." He said and she almost laughed.

"Home? Its no longer a home, its just a house now."

Riddick left the port and New Mecca behind, star jumping to get out of the system. He put the small ship on stationary and hung in the harness. He didn't want to leave, he knew he had to. Kid was growing up fast, turning into something he wanted. But he was no pedophile and she looked up to him, he'd never take advantage of her like that.

Jack had no idea how he felt about her, she would never know, could never know. He didn't even know until that damn dream of her hands gripping his bare shoulders while she cried out his name, her bare legs wrapped around his waist. When he had woken up he had been disgusted with himself, even more so that morning when Jack had come into the kitchen, kissing the top of his shaven head like she always did. And when he told her that he loved her, it had almost killed him to add 'like a sister'.

Tomorrow was her sixteenth birthday. If she had been turning eighteen he would have asked her if she wanted to come with him, but she wasn't. In the bay it had taken every once of his strength to kiss her forehead and not her lips. He wasn't a pedophile and he's going to become one either.

"Jack, I did this to save you from me, I only hope you can forgive me." He whispered.