A/N: Well. Here we go with the next chapter, which is a happy and sad event at the same time. Yes, it's a bit late due to Christmas and all that, but not like anyone was on here anyway. Better late than never, right? Also, this is the chapter from which I stole the tagline in the summary. So enjoy the awkwardness!
But unfortunately I have some bad news. Not only is this as far as I've written, but I'm heading back to the States Friday morning, so this fic will probably disappear again. Life has a way of stomping in to my happy little world and mucking about in all my things so they're all ruined, and then carrying me off. Joy. So, I'm sorry to say it, but this fic will probably go on hiatus. Of course, I might have a Saturday night and a lot of inspiration, and that might result in more chaps. But who knows if/when that will happen. Therefore, the hiatus is tentative. Keep a weather-eye out, just in case. Cheers lads, I'll miss you. Drop me a few reviews, please…
Riddick had suggested they have a movie night, so he sent Jack to the vid rental store while he whipped up some dinner. This annoyed him – he felt like the housewife waiting for Husband to bring home the bacon. But he couldn't risk wandering around in a brightly lit store – he needed to stay in the shadows. Stupid bounty and stupid mercs…
By the time Jack returned, he was positively fuming. She looked at the mess on the counter and Riddick jabbing an angry finger at the blender, before wincing and walking into the living room.
When she ventured back in, he was peeling a messy concoction out of the Jorge Formin Gill. He looked up when she coughed, and seemed to have relaxed. "It's called a Messy Jane." He explained, handing her a plate.
"What's in it?" she asked warily.
"It's beans, meat, cheese, and barbeque sauce on bread. More than edible – I used to make them when I was a kid."
Jack shrugged. "Cool. Hey I bought some popcorn at the vid store, do you want me to pop it?"
He grinned. "Wouldn't be a movie night without it!"
As Riddick disappeared into the refrigeration unit to get some Bubbly, Jack pulled the tab on the bag of popcorn, and immediately there was a 'ssssszzzzaaaoooww' sound. The bag puffed up and the smell of buttered popcorn filled the kitchen. "Ooh, hot!" she yelped, juggling in gingerly in her fingers. "Hothothothot!"
She managed to pour the hot kernels into a large bowl without seriously burning herself, just as Riddick reappeared, and snagged a handful of popcorn as he walked past. She waited to see him drop the steaming kernels, or yelp in pain, but he did neither. He merely popped a few in his mouth and kept walking.
"Figures." She muttered, grabbing both their plates of Messy Janes and following him into the living room.
As the end credits flickered across the dark wall, Riddick glanced over at Jack. She was curled up in what looked like a murderously uncomfortable position on the other end of the couch, fast asleep. He grinned and flicked off the vid, pulling off his goggles.
He carefully slipped his arms under her slumbering form and stood easily. She really didn't weight much at all – and she was so worried about being fat! With his delicate burden clasped tight to his chest, Riddick stole quietly up the stairs and shouldered open the door to her room.
Laying her gently on the bed, he smoothed her hair gently back from her face, fingers ghosting over the scratches from her fight after school. He wished he hadn't sworn not to hurt those boys, because he suddenly had a strong urge to grind their faces into some convenient concrete. Squashing such potentially satisfying thoughts, he pulled the covers over her slumbering form, and straightened.
Riddick paused when he passed her desk, looking curiously at her sketchbook – which was lying on top of a pile of old tests. He picked it up and flipped through it again, looking at other drawings she hadn't shown him. She really was a talented artist – her cartoons and caricatures were pretty funny, and her serious portraits and still-lifes were like photographs. He glared at the one of Mr. Menthiz, but smirked when he remembered the teacher's address.
There was a new sketch on the page after, and Riddick blinked when he saw it. A knight was leaning nonchalantly against a brick wall, wearing a baggy sweatshirt – of all things – over his armor. He held a laztik loosely in one hand, except the laser weapon was longer that normal, about the size of an actual sword. A maiden with short spiky hair and combat boots under her frilly dress leaned next to him, and a bevy of evil creatures surrounded the pair. Through the eye-slit in the knight's helm, Riddick could see two eyes, colored in the silver of pencil graphite.
He smiled, closed the sketchbook, and left the room.
Royaz Drive was a street of pleasantly shabby houses, sleeping peacefully in the fractured moonlight. A shadow flickered down the street as a dark figure sauntered along the sidewalk, stopping at number 7. 'Menthiz', read the name on the mailbox.
Riddick smiled as he jimmied the lock on the front door. He had promised Jack that he wouldn't go to the authorities with what she had told him, but he hadn't promised anything else. After carefully checking the street for any signs of discovery, the convict slipped inside the house. Oh he was going to enjoy this…
Still wrapped up in the afterglow of satisfaction – Mr. Menthiz wouldn't be bothering Jack anymore – Riddick slipped back into the house. It would have been more to his style to kill the man, but he worried that Jack might suspect, and didn't want to trouble her.
Speaking of Jack, this was the second time in as many nights that he had slipped out while she was asleep – really, he was pushing his luck. What would she do if she woke and he wasn't there? He hoped he'd never find out.
He had just hung up his duster, when there was a noise upstairs. Immediately he froze, listening intently.
Suddenly, a scream.
"Riddick!"
He was up the stairs without realizing it, focused only on getting to Jack. A shiv was in his hand, and he thrust her door open, ready to attack whatever was threatening her.
But Jack's room was empty, save the girl herself, who was sitting upright in bed, wide-eyed. The sheets were twisted around her thin frame, and she was drawing great shuddering breaths. "Riddick…" she called again.
"What is it, Jack? What's wrong? Is there someone here?" His eyes darted around the room – the window was closed, her closet wasn't large enough to hide a man, there was no space under the bed, and no one behind the door.
"No…n-no…I just…" she took another shuddering breath, and to his horror, began to cry.
Startled, he blinked, then sheathed his shiv and sat hesitantly on the edge of her bed. "Jack? You alright?" She shook her head and covered her face with her hands, and Riddick had a horrible realization. He didn't know what to do.
Cautiously, he touched her shivering back – just barely brushing the tips of his fingers across her spine. Suddenly, she whirled and threw herself into his lap, latching her arms around his middle and shoving her face into his chest. Startled, he blinked down at her, trying not to wince as she jostled his stitches.
Feeling like he was dealing with a wild animal and not a teenage girl, Riddick awkwardly petted her hair. "Jack? Can you tell me what's wrong? You hurt?"
After a moment, she pulled her head back just enough that she could look up at him. "No, I'm…okay. I just had a…a dream."
"A nightmare?"
She nodded, and buried her head in the crook between his shoulder and arm. "About The Planet." She mumbled into his chest.
Riddick grimaced, and rubbed her shoulders gently. He didn't say anything – because there was nothing to say. They had survived, yes, but so many others had not. They had escaped, but the horrors lived on in their memories. They were safe, but not from dreams.
Jack quieted quickly, and tugged away from Riddick, wiping ineffectually at her eyes. "You probably think I'm a big baby…" she mumbled.
He smiled softly, and batted her hands aside. "You're not a baby, Jack." He wiped her tears away with the pads of his thumbs. "You're about the farthest thing from a baby."
She sent him a watery smile, and sniffed. "I bet you don't have bad dreams."
Riddick restrained a derisive snort. "Jack, I have bad dreams even when I'm not asleep."
Jack looked startled. "Really?"
"Really."
"Do…do you dream about your kills?"
"Yeah. I guess that's the price you pay for doing what I do, for not feeling guilty during daylight hours." He fell silent, staring over her head and out the window.
"Riddick?"
"Yeah?"
"Is it…hard?"
"Is what?"
"Killing."
For a moment, he didn't say anything. "No. It's easy. Sometimes you get a guy who knows what he's doing and you have a bit of a fight, but it's never hard. Humans are just bone and muscle in a thin bag of skin. No natural defense."
"But is it hard to make yourself kill?"
Again Riddick was silent, debating how much to confess. "No. Jack…I'm not this great and noble guy you think I am. I'm a killer, I kill. It's what I'm good at, it's what I do. I don't…I don't have to make myself. I don't feel bad afterwards. I dream, but I rarely regret the kill."
"What kills do you regret?"
He sighed. "A few ones I shouldn't have done. Innocent people who saw too much, or crossed the wrong guys, or got in the way. Policemen, bystanders, judges, you know. Good people. Some I couldn't do anything about. Hostages, children, Carolyn."
Jack nodded against his chest and fell silent. Riddick continued to softly rub her back in lazy circles, comforting himself as much as his young charge.
"Riddick?"
"Yeah?"
"Will…will you stay with me for a while? Just until I fall asleep?"
A soft smile broke out on the face of the galaxy's most notorious killer. "Scoot over." She obliged, and he kicked off his boots, before swinging his legs up and settling back against the pillow. Jack sighed contentedly and settled her head on Riddick's chest. Soon their easy breathing was the only noise in the room.
After a while, Jack broke the silence. "Riddick, why were you wearing your boots? Did you go somewhere tonight?"
Riddick didn't reply.
"Riddick?"
When there was still no response, Jack raised her head, and looked up at her human pillow. Riddick's silver eyes were closed, and his head lolled awkwardly to the side. His mouth was slightly open, and through it she could hear his steady breathing.
With a grin, Jack tugged her blanket over them both, then nestled back into Riddick's arms. A few minutes later, she drifted off as well, and for once, neither of them dreamed.
Riddick rose early, and showered, feeling strangely refreshed, after only a few hours of sleep. Deciding to surprise Jack, he dug out a cookbook he had noticed in the pantry. "Omelets… Orange-Cranberry Muffins… P… Here we go."
By the time he heard Jack stumbling about upstairs, he had a plate stacked high with hot pancakes – and the trash compactor was full of burnt or broken mistakes.
Feeling a bit cold, he jogged upstairs to grab a sweatshirt. On the way back down, he tapped on the bathroom door. "I made a surprise for breakfast, but if you don't hurry up, it'll all be gone…"
"…Right." Jack called back, sounding rather grumpy.
Puzzled, Riddick leaned his head against the door. "Jack? You all right?"
"I'm fucking fine."
"You don't sound fine." Riddick shot back, but then the urgent message his brain had been attempting to tell him finally broke through. He inhaled deeply. The coppery tang of fresh blood invaded his nostrils. "Jack!" he twisted the doorknob, only to find it locked.
"What!" she yelled back. "Piss off, Riddick."
"Jack, let me in." he commanded, testing the door's strength.
"No."
"Jack you're bleeding! Open up!"
There was silence for a moment. "I'm fine, Riddick. The scab on my neck just opened when I was sleeping."
"I'm not stupid, Jack. Open this door, or I swear…"
"You'll what?"
"I'll break it down and bust your ass. There's too much blood for it to be just an open scab."
"I'm fine, Riddick! Get that through your thick skull! I'll be out in a second. Besides, how do you know how much I'm bleeding?"
"I can smell it. You're making me suspicious now! …I'm not mad, Jack. I just want to make sure you're okay."
The girl was silent for a time, and Riddick frowned. "Jack?"
"What!"
"Just checking that you didn't sneak out the window. Will you just open the door?"
"Fuck's sake, Riddick gimme three seconds!"
"Three…"
"Jesus, Riddick you are a dick!"
"Two… not helping yourself…"
"Piss off!"
"One… I'm gonna break this door down…"
Jack opened the door and glared at him.
"Zero."
She turned around in a circle. "There. You can see that I haven't slit my wrists or cut off a foot or something. Can I go now?"
Riddick blinked. "Where'd all that blood go then? Where'd it come from?"
Jack's glare could have fried eggs. "It's that time of the month." She grated out from between gritted teeth.
Riddick blinked again. "What?"
"It's that time of the month."
"Huh?"
"I'M ON MY PERIOD, OKAY?"
It took a few seconds for him to process that, and when he did, Jack was able to witness the closest that Richard B. Riddick had ever gotten to blushing. "Oh. Yeah, I guess that would explain it."
Jack glared. "There, are you satisfied?"
"Uh…yeah."
"Good." She flounced past him with as much dignity as she could muster.
Riddick stared after her, scratching his baldpate absently. "What just happened here?" he wondered.
A/N: Yay! Anuzzah chaptah dun! Are hew sadeh naow? (um, I'll stop talking like that that now…) I'm terribly sorry, but c'est la vie. Anyway, reviewer appreciation time!
Animagious-White-Tiger (yes, adventures in OOCland. But hopefully not too much, I'm trying to keep him as faithful as possible. I sometimes wonder if this really happened to Riddick if he would not just say "fuck it" and leave. Hmmm… and don't delete me, I'm still here! Really!), TrunksgirlBlaze27, bima, shamrock920 (I wuv you incredibly, and it was nice to hear from you again!), lamyka (yeah it was more character/plot work than action, but I am trying to balance all aspects, so after the club scenes and the fight, I needed to put in something different), Saismaat (I'm glad you enjoyed my names, I seriously have to think about each of them to make them suitably futuristic), CiaraBerrie, Social control, Poison kitten, S, unknown (sorry there was such a big break there, but I did explain…), Aniah, Montgomery Burms 13 (ooooh, a big one! Yes, I realize now that 10 assailants was probably a bit much, but look at what he did on The Planet and against the Necromongers! If he can battle a fscking alien thingie, plus like a zillion flunkies with laser guns, I didn't want to give him an easy out. Admittedly, he did have Kyra/Jack with him, but really… I also tried to write it in a way that wasn't so far-fetched… Now, the punks at school. Yes, Riddick fscked up there. He won't do it again – even though he doesn't know it yet… haha), FuryanAngel, demondogs (I actually heard it on Barney…), Demondogs again (two reviews, yay!), Madelynn Rae, and SueBe (oooooh you've given me ideas…).
Ok, people. Are you mocking me? 99 reviews… Sneaky sneaky. Haha, at least we can break 100 in this chap. Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers who got me this far! I'm glad you're all enjoying it!