Chapter 3

Carolyn had reluctantly followed Riddick out to his vehicle; at least she supposed you call it that. Similar to a motorcycle on Earth it had seating for two and was fast, as she could very well attest to. She assumed from his quiet brooding that he wasn't any happier with this than she was.


She stood in quiet awe of his home, as she had most buildings they had passed, but his was particularly impressive. It had a dark, almost beastly appearance to it.

Riddick came to stand behind her. Looking at it impassively, he could see that it was an accurate reflection of him five hundred years ago. Riddick the Butcher. He had changed a lot since then. He had gone from a survivor to a leader, from a man to a legend.

"It's the second oldest home on this continent."

"It's magnificent, in a tortured kind of way."

Riddick made a noise as he turned his head this way and that, looking at the house. "It could probably use some updating."

Carolyn nodded her head, with raised eyebrows. "Ya think?"


Showing her to her room he left her there until lunch was ready, only to find her sound asleep on the bed. Taking a blanket from the chest at the foot, he covered her and closed the door behind him.

He had forgotten what a toll the C24 took on the female body. Men, it seemed, could get up and slay dragons within a few hours. Women were different. There was near, constant exhaustion, the first few weeks. Something about their physiology combined with child-bearing abilities. Sam had explained it all in technical terms way back in the beginning.

He hoped that Sam had taken the time to explain all fine details to her. It had been far too long since there had been a woman in his life.


"Carolyn. Carolyn."

The sound of her voice being called caused her eyelids to flutter as she stretched, opening her eyes to find Riddick standing next to her, a bemused expression on his face.

"Oh my gods, I fell asleep didn't I? I am so sorry." She sputtered while trying to untangle herself from the blanket that had appeared out of nowhere and wrapped itself around her with tentacle like tenacity.

Riddick waved her off, "I thought you might like to eat some dinner and then get a look at your new home."

Using her hand she covered a yawn. "Of course, I am so sorry; I don't know why I'm so tired."

"Didn't Sam go over the side effects of C24 with you?"

Carolyn looked down and picked at a fingernail sheepishly. "She did, but the third time she used a word I didn't understand I pretty much tuned out. Genetics was not my forte in school." She shrugged her shoulders. "She seemed happy with a smile and occasional nod of the head. I was hoping maybe you could go over some of that with me."

Riddick laughed at the woman in front of him. "Come on," he tilted his head towards the door. "Dinner's ready."

Dinner was spent telling her what he knew of the regeneration process which was actually quite a bit more than he thought he knew.

"Would you like to go for a ride?"

Carolyn silently agreed with a smile as she pushed away from the table and stood to follow.

She mentally sighed as he led the way to the two-seater again, but climbed on behind him without complaint. Wrapping her arms around his torso and laying her head against his back, she missed the look of surprise on his face.

It was dark out now, and Carolyn couldn't see much of the country-side they were passing through, so she focused on the ride itself. Hanging on to Riddick, her fingers occasionally dug into his sides if they hit an air pocket and the bike vibrating between her legs was driving her crazy. When Riddick grabbed hold of one of her legs pulling her forward snuggly against his hips it caused her to moan as a bolt of electricity shot through her core. Sitting upright, whatever she was about to say was forgotten at the view in front of her as the bike came to stop.

"Welcome to Furya." Riddick whispered somewhere near her ear as he watched her.

"I've never seen anything like it." Carolyn breathed flashing him a smile as she climbed off the bike.

"It's called 'Moon Falls'," Riddick explained as he watched the moonlight play off her profile. As the moon rose, it gave the illusion of being directly over the waterfall and the light reflecting off the water gave the appearance of the moon being its source of water. It truly was a sight to behold.

"And they lived untouched by sorrow in the islands of the blessed along the shore of deep swirling ocean, happy heroes for whom the grain-giving earth bears honey-sweet fruit flourishing thrice a year, far from the deathless gods."**

Riddick smiled broadly, "Hesiod. You know your Greek poets, Ms. Fry."

"Only the very best boarding schools for the orphaned daughter of wealthy business people."

"Well, shit," she muttered a few moments later.

"What?"

"I just realized. All my stuff is gone. I know it wasn't hundreds of years worth of stuff, but it was still my stuff, you know? Plus a very cushioned bank account. Do you use U.D. here? I've got a lot to figure out." She sighed.

Riddick laid a hand on her shoulder. "There's nothing for you to worry about. We take care of our own."

He regretted the look of sadness that washed over her face, taking the place of the joy just a few minutes ago. They had people already working on collecting her things, just as they did for every convert, but, it did no good to raise their hopes if their operatives weren't able to get everything, so it was better to surprise them, leaving them grateful for what was, then pining for what wasn't. They'd know in a few weeks.

"I'm sorry," he said gruffly.

"I'm alive. That's more than most people in my profession can hope for. Thank you for bringing me here." She reached out for his hand, giving it a squeeze.


She didn't think it possible, but she finally managed to fall asleep in the large bed after hours of tossing and turning, before waking to her own screams ringing in her ears, her chest heaving as she fought to drag air into her lungs. Her bedroom door crashed open as a bleary-eyed Riddick ran in, sword in hand, looking for any intruders, his demands to know what was wrong met with Carolyn's garbled voice as her panic attacked intensified.

Riddick climbed on the bed, reaching out to pull her near. Carolyn flinched when his hand wrapped around her wrist, but didn't protest.

"Breath, Carolyn," he instructed, "in through your nose, out through your mouth," doing an exaggerated version of it himself for her to copy. "That's it, slowly now, slowly," he all but crooned to the woman in front of him. Looking her over as she calmed, he took in her flushed cheeks, hair that resembled more of a bird's nest and the warmth of her sleep, hazed body that radiated to him through the sheets. Tears streaked her face and her hands were still shaking.

"Bad dream?" He asked when her breathing had been steady for a few minutes.

She raised her head and he could see the sheen of more tears in her eyes as she simply nodded her head.

"Nightmares are common the first few weeks, remember?"

"It was just so violent." She whispered brokenly, pulling her hands up to rest on her cheeks with a shudder.

As he watched her eyes grow heavy, Riddick became aware that his hand was on her hip and his thumb was rubbing circles against it. "Think you can get back to sleep?"

With a small smile she nodded and he climbed off the bed, picking up the sword he had dropped. Straightening he turned back toward her.

Carolyn met his eyes. "Nice sword."

"Get some sleep," he said as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. It was only then that he realized he was nude. Chuckling, he continued on to his room.


Clothing was waiting for her in the bathroom the next morning when she woke, so she navigated her way through a shower. The black cargo pants, t-shirt and boots were comfortable and fit well.

Leaving her room, she tapped lightly on the door next to hers. When there was no answer from Riddick, she turned back, trying to remember the way she had come last night, the sound of voices guiding her in.

"Carolyn!" John called out, pulling out the chair next to him and waving her over.

Sam moved towards the stove, coming back shortly with a plate of food and a cup of coffee setting it in front of Carolyn before taking her seat once again.

"Riddick said you had a rough night?" she asked leaning forward as she sipped from her coffee cup.

"Just a bad dream. Nothing more," Carolyn replied busying herself with her food to avoid making eye contact.

"Those will decrease as time goes on. Hopefully no more than a few weeks to a month at the most." Sam reassured her.

Carolyn nodded her head. "It'll be fine, I'm sure."

Riddick tossed his napkin on the table and turned in her direction. "You're going with Sam this morning. John and I need to finish some things up from that last trip.

"But I thought you were staying with me?" Carolyn asked looking at the trio, feeling like she was a child, once again being passed from one relative to another.

Sam cheerfully passed her coffee cup to John as she kissed his cheek and then Riddick's. "You need clothes, therefore, we're going shopping," She said turning to Carolyn.

John arched his eyebrows as Riddick trailed behind the women.

"So, what's the verdict?" John asked as he sidled up next to his friend.

Riddick snorted at his friend as he watched Carolyn treat the vehicle in front of her like a dog about to bite.

"You're a housewife. You know that, right?" Riddick said looking at him before pointing at the women, "This is gonna interesting."

Both men watched as Sam was obviously giving Carolyn a quick lesson in how to operate her choice of personal conveyance. "Oh no," John groaned. "Do you remember when she taught Jacob how to drive?"

Riddick chuckled at the memory. Disaster didn't even begin to describe the incident that ended with John at Old man Harper's house, trying to explain how his wife and son ended up in his living room. The laughter quickly died though, as Carolyn and Sam quickly blew past them, Carolyn clearly in control with a loud "WAHHHHOOOO!" and Sam's middle finger stuck up in the air. Getting over the initial shock, Riddick clapped John on the back as he shook with laughter.


When Sam dropped Carolyn back off at Riddick's home, it was empty. Stepping into the kitchen for a snack, she discovered their breakfast dishes still littering the table, so sat about cleaning the kitchen before finally grabbing her snack and heading upstairs with her purchases. Taking off the watch Sam had given her this morning, she laid it on her nightstand. She knew that she wasn't supposed to remove it, but she wasn't ready for that kind of commitment just yet. She silently made a bargain with herself that she would wear it when she left the house but the rest of the time it would remain in her room. Picking up one of the books that had been left beside her bed she wondered out to the back veranda, down to the landscaped lawn, finding a hammock between two trees which let the occasional shaft of sunlight stream through. She drifted off halfway through the second page.

The sound of voices woke her from yet another bad dream a few hours later, causing her to nearly flip herself out of the hammock before settling down to catch her breath.


Riddick was sitting on the back porch watching her sleep when several of his men sought him out. There was no indication that her hearing was improving as of yet, so he hadn't worried about their conversation waking her. He was still watching when she woke with a start, unaware of where she was for a moment. Standing, he shook each of the men's hands, with a promise to seek them out later.

Carolyn watched as Riddick said his goodbyes to the men before standing and gathering her things. Slowly making her way to the porch, she gave him a hesitant smile. "I keep falling asleep on you."

"No harm done. I thought we'd spend the evening in tonight. You had a busy day if your bedroom is any indication."

"Well then, I'm all yours," Carolyn winked as she walked into the house causing the corner of Riddick's mouth to tic up.

** Hesiod,Works and Days (170)