Maybe
He was checking their course when he heard her tip-toe to the door, trying hard not to make a sound. Smirking inward, Riddick tilted his head without looking in her direction. It was almost cute how hard Jack tried to emulate him.
He felt her pause at the entrance, one foot hovering, almost touching the floor. Her hesitation dissipated when he resumed his task at hand, and the sound of her bare feet padded came closer.
With a soft scuffle, he saw her, out of the corner of his eye, curl up in the co-pilot chair, her feet tucked under her butt.
He waited a few heartbeats before speaking. "What'd you want, kid?"
She shrugged, staring out at the silent black. He could see her fiddling with the hem of her shirt, running her fingers across the rough stitching. Unconsciously, his sideways gaze drifted upward to the small curved chest beneath the shirt.
Damn, he thought to himself, amused. Guess she really is a she.
"What?" Jack's voice was defensively, bordering on insecure. She crossed her arms and her brow puckered.
This time he looked her over, his eyes stopping at the bald head covered with soft stubble. "What'd your hair used to look like?"
Jack's nose crinkled in confusion, her green eyes narrowing. "Huh?"
His eyebrows were raised, his jaw tense. "Did I stutter?"
"Uh, no," Jack paused, studiously trying to avoid staring at him while doing so. "I dunno 'xactly. Kinda wavy, light brown. In the summer, it sometimes got lighter, more blonde I guess."
He looked over at her again, the words forming a picture in his mind. Soft waves of light brown hair streaked with sunlight tumbling down her back, those big green eyes and bright smile. A slender, firm body.
"There might be hope yet for ya, kid," he mumbled, facing the velvet darkness of space again.
Without looking at her, Riddick could see the confusion spilling across her features. "Okay…" she drew the word out cautiously.
"Go get the holy man," he demand, his voice rough and loud again, filling up the quiet. "And go get some sleep. We'll be on Hellion Prime soon."
Jack unfurled herself from the seat. As she did so, she faltered for just a moment, her eyes locking with his. He watched her mouth open, words poised on her tongue.
"You goin' or no?" Riddick asked impatiently. She nodded and scuttled to the door.
Riddick touched the screen, drawing up the model of Hellion Prime, and heard the footfalls stop behind him. It was subtle, like a shiver or a shift in the breeze—small but there.
In an impulsive move, he turned slightly to catch a glimpse of the kid staring at her faint reflection in the window. She ran her fingers over her bald head with a look similar to awe gracing her face. But it was sweeter, with a smile curling on the edges of her lips.
Her eyes slid to his, and it took her only a second to realize he had been watching her the entire time. Her features snapped back into place, but he could see a deep flush creeping up her neck.
"Move it," he told her, jerking his head in the direction of the door.
With a blink of those grotto green orbs, Jack suddenly began moving at high-speed, disappearing out the entrance.
He fiddled with the screen for a moment, now looking at the UV6 planet. He thought of solitary expanse of cold and ice. His fingers slid back to Hellion Prime, focusing on New Mecca.
Maybe in a few years, he'd come back to New Mecca, he toyed with the thought. It lingered, enveloping him. Maybe after all the mercs got the fuck of his neck, he'd come back to the shiniest hell in the universe and find the kid again.
Maybe then.
