Author's Note: Thought I'd twist things up a little, giving Jack the choice to go with him or not. Now, hmm, do you think she really said no because she was scared of the great wide world out there? Me thinks there was a different reason... So why did she go looking for him? We'll see...
Chapter Six
She'd always been perceptive, never mistaking the tone in his voice or the meaning of his movements. It still rang true. When he had asked her to come, he had been asking her to stay. When he had watched the night sky on Lupus Five, he had been happy. She'd seen the truth. But what she hadn't been able to see were the reasons.
He'd never lied to her. He was taking care of her the best way he knew how. He wanted her to have every thing she needed, and be free of all she didn't. She didn't need him. He was wrong for her, damaging to her. The moment he realized that, he had to leave.
He remembered that day clearly. There she was, torn shirt, split lip, her small hands speckled with some one else's blood, looking so high-minded and swollen with pride. Then he knew.
She'd gotten into a fight on the street. An older boy had been teasing her. She said she had done her best to ignore him, but when he shoved her in the chest and realized it wasn't another boy he was taunting, he really began to rag on her. Calling her names, asking her if she liked girls. Finally she let him have it. It took three swipes to bring him down. She broke his nose, cracked his knee cap, and smashed his groin.
The way she smiled as she relayed the tale, examining her tainted knuckles and battle wounds, had shaken him. What she'd done didn't bother her in the least, on the contrary, she liked it. It gave her a sense of power. She licked her lips steadily while rubbing at the red stains with her thumb, delighted that they smeared like war paint. The fog in her eyes cleared, and a sourness took its place. He saw the potential for blood lust. It made him feel sick.
He'd never before seen a child's face contort in such satisfaction after breaking another child.
He knew it was he who had inspired such a mating of violence and lack of conscience within her. He had to leave while she still had a chance.
But now she was a filthy merc. Was that any better? He batted his eyes at the irony.
And that's why you should steer clear of people, he told himself, Every life you touch you fuck up.
By the time some one came to his cell again, he'd been standing for all most twelve hours straight. His legs had begun to tingle relentlessly.
"You sure you want to do this?" came a woman's voice.
"Yeah, I'm sure." It was Kyra.
"Okay. But I'm telling you, it's not a good idea to un-anchor him while there's a knife in the room."
"I'll be fine," she insisted blandly.
"Just be sure you don't loose him."
"Have I lost one yet?"
Both women appeared. Kyra was holing a silver wash bowl, towel, and a minimally curved blade. Mitch opened the cell, then slid the bars into place once Kyra was inside. Kyra placed the items on the cot and began unchaining him from the wall. "You can go now," she told Mitch.
"Toombs said I should stay."
"I think you should go."
"Hey, he didn't have to let you groom the beast, so I don't-"
"Mitch!" Kyra said sharply, "Just go."
"Fine." She swaggered off, irritated.
Kyra was careful to make sure his hands were perfectly immobile before pushing him to the bed. She sat behind him, her legs criss-crossed so that she wouldn't have to straddle his hips. She let down his matted hair, which he had let grow around his goggles. She calmly hacked the shades free, pulled them completely off, then laid them beside her. The bowl was half filled with sudsy water. She dipped the knife into it, then meticulously began to shave the dreads away. He held perfectly still. When she was finished she patted his clean scull down with the towel.
That was the easy part, now onto the beard. She took her equipment to the floor. She went down on her knees in front of him. She pushed his legs as far apart as they could go being shackled, so that she could get close enough to do a proper job. laying her hand on the back of his neck, she brought him even closer. The blade was sharp and ran smoothly over his skin, sending the gnarled strands to the floor with ease.
Tilting his head back so that she could get beneath this chin, she drew herself up further, bringing them unsuitably nearer still. As she scraped his throat, her hands began to twitch. Easy girl, he hushed, Let's not slice anything vital.
She finally dropped the blade into the basin and ran her fingers over his newly exposed face. There was the Riddick she remembered.
With a muddled sigh, she started to stand. He promptly clamped his thighs tight around her middle. It didn't surprised her. "Riddick, let me go," she commanded mildly.
"Talk to me."
She tried to squirm free, but couldn't manage it. "I think I said enough last night."
"You didn't tell me why you changed your mind and decided to come after me."
"I would have thought that was obvious. Let go."
He relinquished his grip, and she scampered away. "Why?" he persisted.
"We're leaving soon," she said, ignoring him. She nudged him to his feet, then reattached him to the wall.
"You mind?" he asked, nodding at the cot.
She bent, gently winding her fingers around the goggles. They were light, and the rubber was warm. She'd playfully imagined steeling them from him once, back in the day. He'd fallen asleep beside her bed. She hadn't seen him for much of that day, and when he returned he had been abnormally exhausted. She'd tugged him into the bedroom to show him- something, she couldn't remember now- and he'd suddenly dozed off. She took off her own goggles and compared them to his. His were better. She considered swapping the two, but knew he'd wake up when she touched him.
Now Riddick leaned forward, baring his bald head to her. She ran her fingertips over his scalp. Before she could place the band around his cranium, he asked again, "Why?"
With a smug smile, she withdrew. Taking up the bowl and dropping the towel into it, she said, "Maybe I'll hang onto these." She yanked them on. They fit snugly due to her thick hair.
He was intrigued. It was strangely satisfying to see her in them.
"As soon as you slip those chains you can have them back," she razzed, stepping towards the bars.
"I'll get right on that." Then, as an after thought he added coyly, "What else can I have?"
She stopped dead. That cocky bastard. "Nothing," she said, her breath catching. She left before he could respond.
Hmm, he mused as he watched her saunter away, Interesting.
She wasn't about to tell him why she had changed her mind. She hadn't come to terms with the reasons herself. What did it matter any way? It was wrong, all wrong.
She heard heavy boots fall into step behind her. She put one hand in the bowl to hover over the knife's handle, just in case.
"Did you have fun last night?"
"What do you want, Toombs?" Her pace didn't slow.
"Was he gentle?"
"If you don't have anything sensible to say, go jack off." They rounded a corner, passed the guards, and entered the elevator. She kept her eyes trained on the doors.
"Who bit first, you or him?"
"I don't know what your problem is. You've been extra sleazy ever since we landed on UV6." She turned to him, shoving the basin into his belly, forcing him to take it. "What's the deal? Hu? Why are you acting like this?"
He picked a fleck of dirt from under one of his fingernails. "Did you know you talk in your sleep?"
She cocked and eyebrow, "What? No. What does that have to do with anything?"
He leaned casually against the wall. The car came to a stop. He immediately kicked the close button and held it. "On our way to the system, I programmed the computer to wake me early. Just me. I wanted to read his file over again.
"Supposedly, everything shuts down when you're in cryo sleep. Everything but the reptilian-"
She was catching on. Nodding, she agreed, "You're not supposed to dream."
He smirked, "Right. So imagine my surprise when little Kyra starts yammering. On and on. At first you weren't making any sense. For a while I went about my business, ignoring you. But after a while, things started getting interesting." She narrowed her eyes, but let him continue. "You started making sounds," he shivered slightly, "Good sounds."
She turned away from him, disgusted. He forcefully pulled her back around, "That must have been one hell of a nasty fantasy, with all of that moaning and heaving. And just as I started to wonder who it was you were doin' in that screwy little mind of yours, you gave me the answer-" He rolled his eyes back in his head, his voice taking on an airy, high pitched tone to mock her, "Riddick. Oh, Riddick. Ugh... Uh..."
She knocked his foot away from the button and the doors slid open. She practically ran out, leaving Toombs doubling over with laughter.