SUMMARY: Sequel to Night Fall. The survivors have made it off the hellish planet, and are now trying to survive the trek back to civilization. There is a definite rift between the those who lived, and no one is sure how it's going to end. Will Jack really stay with Riddick to repay her debt, or will Imam's disapproval win out? Even then, will Johns stick to his word about letting Riddick go until some possible distant future? With three grown men all trying to call the shots at once Jack has to hold on for the ride and hope what she wants doesn't get completely thrown to the wayside. That's if they're even rescued first...

"Unidentified craft, state your purpose and contents."

It had seemed way too good to be real. Picked up a not a day after they took off…

"Hey, Name's Johns, the ship I was on crashed, the only other survivors are on board with me."

Riddick had watched as Johns glanced over why he was on the ship, and just who one of the survivors was. He was keeping up his end, only…

"William Johns, we're sorry for your dilemma, we'll send out a bigger burst for you, someone should be along shortly."

That had been three fucking days ago!

"Fucking mercs…" Riddick grumbled as Jack crawled back onto his lap. She was bored again, she straddled his legs so they could be facing each other, and in her hands she held three colorful balls.

"What the hell did I do to you now?" Johns asked as he fingered a small vile of morphine before putting it back in the case he had sitting in the copilots' seat. He was preserving what pain killers he had, and he was taking it easy on the booze too.

"Present company excluded," Riddick said idly as Jack started to juggle two of them with one hand.

"For now," Jack chirped looking Johns over her shoulder with a grin not stopping. At first Jack had been quiet unsure how to act now that she wasn't pretending to be a boy. She'd been scared, but when nothing bad happened to her she seemed to settle into herself. Jack could do a number of tricks, the kind street kids did on corners for local world coin, which suggested she'd had to work for her meals on more than one occasion.

They'd all been ignoring Imam's praying since after their almost rescue, and it just made Riddick and Johns closer to Jack, and all of them further from the holy man. It was just background noise now. Johns seemed to be taking Jack's little banter, even joined in now and then. Riddick enjoyed Jack's willingness to crawl all over him, it distracted him from the fact he wanted to put his fist through Imam's face. Hell he was starting to feel close to the merc, made him realize that if they'd been on the same side of the fence Johns could have been someone he did business with, and had a few drinks in-between maybe.

"Right the fuckers who left us here," Johns breathed checking the dash again, but there was nothing new there.

Jack started tossing up the other ball, before she started juggling all of them together. Riddick watched her for a bit before snatching one of them out of the air and chucking it at Imam. It made Jack huff even as it got Imam in the side of the head, but Johns even made a displeased noise as Imam snatched up the ball stuck it in a pocket before returning to his prayers. "Riddick…" Jack whined pouting at him.

"The kid's the only entertainment we got Riddick," Johns sighed watching them. He had to admit if only he, Riddick, and Imam lived they'd either all be insane or Riddick would have killed them. Jack wasn't only entertainment she was probably the only reason the remaining survivors were still surviving.

"We could play poker again," Jack sighed as she got back off of Riddick and put the remaining balls back in her bag before settling in the seat next to Riddick.

"No thank you," Johns muttered turning to look back out the view port at the stars. They'd played for the better part of a day yesterday, and all they'd learned was that they were all bloody cheaters even if they weren't playing for anything but to pass the time. Both Riddick and Jack were good at sleight of hand, Johns and Riddick could stack a deck like pros, and as it was Jack's deck they both suspected she'd memorized the back of the cards, because while all fifty-two where there a lot of them were from different decks. Riddick had won over all according to the tally they were keeping on wins, but all that proved was that he was a better cheater than the other two.

"Three Card Monte?" Jack asked even as the ship powered down even further into its simulation of a night cycle meaning the lights dimmed even further and could started to seep in a little more. There were blankets still out and piled on a seat, though the ones Riddick and Jack had been using were under the seat Riddick was on, but no one moved for them yet.

"Do any of those cards come from the same deck?" Johns asked as he reclined the seat he was in back.

"Some," Jack grinned Riddick pulled her against his side, probably to keep her warm for longer.

When the praying finally stopped they all looked in Imam's direction only for Jack to lean further into Riddick as Imam asked, "Do you really intend to keep her as some kind of prize?"

They all remembered that little argument that woke Jack up in the first hours they were on the skiff.

"So the kid owes you her life, agreed to it and everything?" Johns asked as Riddick handed back the bottle of amber liquid.

"She didn't want me to sell her out, then she kept needing saving and help," Riddick said keeping his voice low, avoiding shrugging with Jack still tucked under his arm.

"She's just a child!" Imam said suddenly as he stood up glaring at the two men talking about the young girl as if she was a commodity. "You're talking about her life as if there's nothing you can do but accept payment from a child for needing help!"

Jack grumbled against his side, trying to press closer away from the noise. "She's going to keep needin' help holy man," Riddick growled threateningly wrapping his arm around Jack his hand cupping the side of her head in a possessive and protective gesture.

"I hate to side with Riddick, but he's got a point, she's a runaway, a street kid, Riddick's probably the best she could learn from," Johns said with a shrug taking another shot of liquor. Johns had come from a working class family; he'd had a shot at whatever he wanted granted he worked hard enough for it. He'd been the kind of kid that straddled having enough and being one parent losing their job from being on the street. He'd known kids like Jack when he was around that age, most just kept running for the rest of their life. Orphans, grounded for a while before they took off again probably only to be snatched up by someone else on their travels, government or slaver both were really just looking for pawns, and then there were abused kids that had a house only for food and shelter with parents that didn't care. Last there were the ones like Riddick that got locked up. For Jack she was probably best off running with Riddick. A lot of runaway girls just ended up being slaved out if they didn't hook up with someone stronger or a group. "He'll keep her alive as long as he wants her, and if she's lucky she'll learn something and keep living if he decides he's ever had his fill."

"How can you say such things?" Imam asked in outrage. "You were taking him to jail, but now you're letting him keep a child!"

Riddick frowned as Jack whimpered gripping him closer. He just barely kept himself in check when Imam said, "She could be anything she wanted, but you're both just going to throw her away!" Jack shuddered a whimper leaving her as she choked back a sob.

"I'm not going to throw her away like a piece of scrap," Riddick growled as he moved to stand, only Jack kept a hold of him stopping him from getting up. Stopped from his pursuit of putting Imam in his place Riddick pulled Jack up onto his lap holding her shuddering form insisting, "She's mine."

"Don't be foolish enough to dispute it," Johns said shaking his head as he stretched a little in his seat. "He'll just shiv you."

"Well do you?" Imam asked as Jack moved away from Riddick's side, for probably the first time, to move over to the copilots chair, which Johns cleared off for her.

"You know what I want to know?" Riddick asked as he stood up looking the robed man in the eye, "I wanna know what you suggest we do with her. I want to know what bright idea you have for the kid's future. She ain't never going to be normal holy man, she's seen too much, been through too much, and not just on that shithole of a planet. The government would stick her in a group home, train her for some job she's not going to want. She'd probably end up in the military, fighting wars she don't believe in, or have any say in. The kinds of places they stick the disposable, the kind that have no family to go home too. You want that for her?" When Imam seemed stuck Riddick continued backing him towards the other half of the skiff saying darkly, "Or you wanna take her in? Try and make her civilized? Watch her run away and then do nothing because she was disrupting your pretty family life, because I doubt you're gonna be lingering around your church too much longer. You'll pray and pray, but it won't make your brats any less dead."

Jack pulled her feet up to her chest on the chair as her and Johns watched it all play out. Imam opened his mouth to speak but closed it and promptly sat down as Riddick's shiv made it out in the open. The holy man had guts though because he ended up asking, "What are you going to do for her? Teach her how to be a killer?"

"Teach her how to fight, kill, whatever it takes for her to stay alive," Riddick said with a shrug.

"Does she really want to go with you? Maybe she would like a normal life if one was offered to her," Imam said looking around Riddick to where Jack was sitting. "On New Mecca I could make sure she got a chance to be whatever she wanted."

Riddick glared at Imam before turning a bit to look back at Jack. She was still curled up in the seat just watching him. "You wanna go to New Mecca with the holy man kid?"

"And play pretend?" Jack sneered, her answer obvious to all with the amount of venom in her tone. It wasn't enough of a statement for her though because she added, "I rather go back to that shithole planet then be grounded in New Mecca." Then she looked right at Imam saying, "I want to go with Riddick, if I didn't do you really think I'd really touch him so much?"

Motioning to Jack in a there-you-have-it way Riddick said, "Now, you bring it up again and I swear this is going in your eye." He waved the shiv at him a bit before he moved back to his seat waving Jack back to him after he put the knife away. She was in his arms in a heartbeat, sitting sideways, leaning into him while Imam went back to praying and Johns snagged a blanket and settled in to sleep. They both waited patiently for Imam to shut up and grab a blanket stretching out before Jack grabbed theirs from under Riddick's seat. Johns somehow always managed to fall asleep no matter who was making noise, or he just laid there ignoring them with his eyes closed, but Jack and Riddick had to wait for the others to shut up.

Jack handed Riddick his which he wrapped around his shoulders and back as Jack wrapped up in hers, once she clambered back onto his lap he wrapped his arms and the two ends of his blanket around her. This arrangement came around after the first time they all really went to sleep. Jack had woken up out of a nightmare and screamed bloody murder. Riddick had been awake and alert on the spot looking to see which of the men he was murdering for touching the kid, but Jack was already apologizing breathlessly and telling mostly herself that she was okay. Now they just skipped a step and he held her while they slept. Imam disapproved, Johns didn't care, and Jack had taken to the idea like a bird to the sky. Riddick slumped down some to relax in the chair bracing his legs apart a bit as his head rested on top of Jack's baby soft hair. She'd ditched her hat in her bag, didn't need it to cover up her face anymore.

"You think we're going to get out of here soon?" Jack asked softly as she watched Johns shift around in the reclined front seat. Imam probably wasn't asleep, but his back was too them and he took to ignoring them when he laid down for the night.

"Don't think about it Jack, it won't make anyone come faster," Riddick mumbled to the kid. "Just keep your mind occupied and when you can't do that sleep."

"Sleeping preserves air…" Jack breathed back, "And if I'm not doing something interesting I might as well be asleep?" She and Riddick had this conversation before. She'd been bugging the hell out of him and tired but refusing to sleep.

"Exactly," Riddick told her. He also told her that even if she fell asleep she wasn't going to somehow miss out on getting rescued, he'd wake her.

"Remind me why we can't fly this thing somewhere?" Jack asked, one of her hands grabbing onto the front of his black tank.

"This thing isn't made for it kid, It'd drain too fast, we'd die before we reached inhabited space," Riddick explained again. He wasn't going to plot a course to a planet they wouldn't make it to. Sitting around waiting to die wasn't his style, but little life boats like this just didn't make it in space. They weren't made to fly more than short range. Maybe if they were right on top of a planet with other people on it he could force it, but then their little romp around hell probably wouldn't have happened. Odds were if one government or another took an interest later down the road they'd terraform some industrial colonies, mine whatever was available, or set up a slam, maybe some penal colonies and slums. With dangers like that on a moon who knew what was on the nearby planets.

No, they couldn't go anywhere, but Riddick had it planned out. He knew almost exactly how long they'd have until they started to run out of air which would be around when he'd be willing to sit around with dead bodies stinking up the cabin. When they came to twenty-four hours of air Riddick would shut down everything but the life support and buy them at least another day. Giving them two days of air. He could kill the holy man twenty-four hours later and buy them a little more time, then Johns towards the end of the next twenty-four hours, if no one came, to buy him and the kid a little more... He'd have to keep an eye on the gauge to see if killing one person would have a significant effect maybe adjust the timing for killing Johns. For the kid, he'd give her the choice when it came down to the final half hour or so. He could kill her if she was afraid to die slow, or they could die together because by that time as long as she wasn't panicking he'd be breathing more air then her simply because his lungs were bigger, it wouldn't matter. Riddick hoped it didn't come to that. He would have saved her just to watch her suffocate. That wouldn't be for at least a month though…

"Can you not think about killing me?" Jack asked just barely awake.

"How'd you know?" Riddick asked not bothering to lift his head. His head laying on hers didn't allow her to read his mind so he saw no reason to try and find another comfortable spot.

"You thought about it yesterday night too, you held me tighter… are holding me tighter," Jack mumbled with a yawn. "Do I get a choice?"

"Yeah kid, you get a choice," Riddick told her making it clear that if it came down to it the others wouldn't get the same consideration. He was doing more for the kid then he would for pretty much any other living thing in the verse.

"I don't have to eat anyone do I?" Jack asked nuzzling closer.

"The air isn't going to last that much longer than the food kiddo," Riddick chuckled repositioning his cheek on her head. If food was the case instead of air though… no not even then unless they were somewhere air was abundant. Fire to cook the bodies would eat up the air in the cabin.

Jack frowned for a moment something nagging her away from sleep. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until she said it so she told him quietly, "I'd rather die together…" Then after a second asked, "Is that childish?"

Riddick thought about it. He was giving her the choice not because he wanted someone to die with, but because he liked the kid enough to let her decide how she wanted to die when death was inevitable. That had nothing to do with age though. It probably had to do with something he wasn't in touch with very much anymore, "Nah, Jack, it's human."

AUTHORS NOTES:

The first chapter of the first sequel I've EVER written!

*scuffs toe* this is usually because I can't finish anything, but maybe I can get better at finishing stuff...

NOW THEN! About actual story stuff! I have a pretty decent outline in my head about how I want this to go, but I don't know exactly how much I should say about it right at the first chapter. Um... right so it seems I don't actually have a whole lot to say about this one right off. Um... if you wanna know anything it's probably best to ask right now until I get to a point where I feel safe about just spouting junk out.

As for anyone who's like JOHNS DIDN'T LIVE WHAT ARE YOU DOING CRAZY LADY? uh... you missed the part where this is a sequel to my story Night Fall... no it did not end the same way the movie did... uh turn around and go read it even though you've kinda botched the surprise of who survives... It's six chapters it can't possibly take that long...but hopefully we don't have that problem.

anyway...

REVIEW REPLIES:

(A special thanks to those who read Night Fall all the way through and are now joining me on the journey through In Spades.)

*note these are the replies for the reviews of the last chapter of Night Fall

ShadowCrawlerCiel:Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it enough to read it all the way through with me. I hope the sequal doesn't dissapoint!

lilmiss8:Thank you!

jenefaner: Thank you love! I'm glad you liked it!

REVIEW, REPLIES, AND QUESTIONS ARE ALWAYS WELCOMED!