Riddick

Putting up the canvas hadn't taken long, and hauling their purchases, mostly the clothes and guns out of the bay hadn't taken much time either. River and Jack were trying on the dresses while Jayne and Riddick checked the equipment. Jack sounded happy, ecstatic nearly and he wanted to see her face like that, she smelt strongly of chocolate and River of caramel, "Hey you two, ain't fair to keep alla that to yourselves, let us see the stuff too." He called with a grin at Jayne.

He'd pushed his goggles up so he was seeing pretty well in the ship light, and got the full impact of Jack in a dress that fluttered around her ankles and circled her waist in a dark color. Long sleeves fell in bells to her wrists and her hair had something shiny in it. Even her feet looked dainty in embroidered slipper type shoes. She twirled in front of him, making the skirt fly out and exposing her calves and ankles. "Isn't it pretty? And there's another one in green that matches my eyes."

"What color's this one?" Riddick caught her by the waist and felt the soft suede of the cincher type sash that wrapped tightly from her hips to underneath her breasts. The fabric of the gown was something equally soft, not even catching on his rough hands. "Feels nice."

"This one's a gold color, darker than the sand on planet," Jack told him with a smile. "The waist is dark brown. River said she picked it to go with my hair and the other to go with my eyes."

Jayne was trying to coax River out and finally the other girl appeared in some dark color that looked like hearts blood to his eyesight. The style was similar to Jack's though and Riddick had the thought that it was deliberate, so that Jack would remember River was her friend, wanted to share everything with her. River's nod towards him let him know his reading of her motivations was correct and he smiled. "Reckon she did a fine job a pickin' these out," He traced a fingertip over the scooped neck and its drawstring tied with a ribbon. "Seems like they'll fit you when you're through growin' too."

River giggled as Jayne tugged her closer and twirled her around before pulling her into his lap for a hug, "In six months Jack will make me look like a child playing dress up. Made sure to find gowns that would flatter how she looks now and will look soon." She slanted a teasing glance at her friend. "All the men will stare at the jade eyed beauty and ignore the child."

"Yeah right," Jack rolled her eyes even as Riddick growled at the thought. "Rick you don't gotta worry. Ain't like I got an interest in other men. Let 'em look. They ain't gonna touch without losin' fingers."

"Or other appendages," River added dryly and Riddick sighed, pressing a kiss to Jack's cheek.

"Go on then an' get changed so you don't wreck 'em," He suggested giving her a swat on the pì gu. "Pretty as you look I might just forget that you ain't quite old enough yet."

Jack's grin of pleasure was like a burst of brown sugar and maple syrup as she pulled River with her into the room. Thanks to his keen senses he could hear fabric sliding over skin and their voices discussing if the reactions had been favorable. Jayne had his head tilted like he could hear something, but his scent wasn't giving much away as far as what he could actually understand.

Finally, the girls were out, dressed near identically in cargo pants and long-sleeved tee shirts. Both of them had guns on their hips while River had a sword on her back. Jack had a frown on her face, shaking her head slowly and looked at Riddick, "What do you hear?"

That had become their private signal when she thought something was off, wrong or she couldn't pin point a problem. River tilted her head and looked at Riddick and Jayne, shaking her head. So she had nothing that she was Reading.

Riddick listened, first to the sounds of White Lightning, then to the docks outside, going as far out as he could and finally shook his head, "Can't find anything Jack." He frowned and looked at her in concern. She was rubbing her forehead.

"What do you hear?" Jack shuddered and her eyes stared wide at nothing at the same moment Riddick heard a tiny pinging noise from the earwigs still on the table.

"Nothin' but the rain," Riddick scowled at the little comms and Jack nodded.

"Grab your gun and bring the cat in," She breathed out slowly.

"Boom boom boom," Riddick looked down at the earwigs and Jayne stared at them too.

"You hearin' what I am?" The taller man asked quietly nodded towards the comms.

"Yeah," Riddick looked at River who was tilting her head, listening but not speaking. Finally, she turned, went back to the bunk and came out with her cortex. Opening it up she typed silently onto the screen and turned it towards them to read.

'Mal had Kaylee dig out our signal, they have tracked it to White Lightning, turned the comms on by remote. Go down to the bay and get rid of the comms. If I don't speak they can't hear me. They hear everything you've said since Jack asked you 'What do you hear' the second time. Go now.' River's face was worried and she closed the cortex and retreated into the bunk just as Jinny entered the galley again.

"Where's—" Jayne scooped up the earwigs in one huge fist, hopefully muffling the sound and shook his head at Jinny who changed her question mid-sentence, "Andreas got to? He was s'posed to help me with those crates down in the bay."

"I'll give you a hand with 'em," Riddick offered. "Just tell me where an' I'll bring 'em up." He nodded at Jayne and began to follow the big man down the hall to the stairs. The bay had the ramp down and men beginning to wander towards it. Jayne was moving at a steady trot, nearly silent on the metal of the ship's deck. "Cobb, gimme two of 'em," He held out his hand and closed his fist around the tiny comms as he walked to the bottom of the ramp.

Cobb went to the opposite side of the airlock and with a quick hard motion of his hand broke the earwigs before he threw them beneath the ship parked next to their berth. Riddick grinned and deliberately crushed one, leaving one live before he did the same. If Reynolds really wanted to find them now he'd have to choose out of three different ships.

"Well that's somethin'," Cobb growled in irritation, burnt oak in his scent. "Why'd you only kill one of 'em? They can still track the other one."

"Cuts the signal down," Riddick shrugged as they mounted the ramp and walked back into the ship. "They still wanna find us they got enough to do it. And maybe I'll get the chance to hit some of the people who like to dope little girls half their size."

"Get in line," Jayne nearly snarled the words and Riddick chuckled. "It ain't your woman they're trying to take."

"No it ain't," He agreed still amused. "She's turnin' into a friend though."

"She's right good at that," Jayne nodded and jerked his head towards the stairs. "I'mma stay down here, keep an eye out. Just don't let River come down here an' whatever you do, nobody from Serenity goes up them stairs."

"That ain't gonna be a problem," Riddick knew from the scents he could catch that River and Jack were sitting together both of them worried but not truly afraid, not yet. That would only happen if Serenity's crew mounted the steps.

He jogged back up to the galley and found Jack with River in their bunk, the little Reader smelling faintly of burnt cinnamon while Jack was smelling strongly of cherries; his partner was deeply pissed, "Got rid a the comms." He reported sitting down next to them. "Cobb's keeping watch from the bay," He looked at River, "He don't want you to come down, no matter what. I'm gonna guard the stairs."

"Place is with my partner," River objected quietly. "Must watch his back. Mal doesn't like him, would do him harm I think."

"I'll watch his back," Riddick said quietly. "But he don't want you down there where they can get at you." He watched her face and shook his head over her mulish expression, "Time an' a place for everything River." He reminded her, "Jayne can take care a himself an' I got his back. But he'll be the worse if you ain't somewhere he knows is safe. Don't distract him by puttin' yourself in harm's way an' it'll all work out."

"He's right River," Jack agreed sliding her arm around her friend's waist. Her gaze went far away and blank for a moment and she looked at Riddick. "You'd better go back down." She pulled out her pistol and put it in her lap. "River an' me'll stay up here. I'm nothin' but a liability with this leg. But with guns and shivs, me an' River can hold here."

"All right," Riddick took a deep breath and grinned his old evil grin. Jack's answering smirk was just as wicked and he kissed her forehead. "Sing out if you need anything, I'll send Jinny in so she knows what's goin' on."

He had a word with the cook and when he left she was getting out her shotgun and sitting in the galley. Riddick took the stairs at a soundless run and emerged from the metal shaft to see Jayne Cobb standing square in front of Malcolm Reynolds at the bottom of the ramp. Big Daddy was walking slowly forward from a table in the corner where he'd been sitting with Geoff. The bartender Liddy both looked and smelt nervous but Big Daddy was dead calm. Riddick took a good spot near the wall and prepared to do as he'd promised, listening to the rather heated conversation Jayne was having with Mal.

"I know you took her Jayne," Reynolds was telling the bigger man. "She's been missin' the whole day."

"You saw me walk off your boat an' I ain't been back to it," Jayne replied heatedly. "You can't keep your crew ain't my never mind. But I didn't take her."

"You're lyin'," Mal snapped the words out. "Where else would she be if not with you?"

"How's 'bout anywhere that's elsewise," Jayne nearly snarled back. "I done paid half a my passage, workin' the other half. An' I don't gotta account for myself with you no more Mal. I ain't your crew. Never was really, just like she never really was either."

"She is my crew and she belongs on Serenity with the folk that care about her," Reynolds was getting irked and Riddick nearly scowled as he saw the first mate step out of the shadows. She was good but he was better.

"Hell," Jayne shook his head and his back went stiff with fury that Riddick could smell like burning oak. "You care about her huh? So much that you an' Zoe got needles in your pockets, drugs to dope the girl up an' take her back. Don't see Simon with ya so he musta caught up with her at some point. Dollars to dumplin's he tried to use the drugs or words to take her back with him," Riddick didn't have to see Cobb's face to know he was glaring down at his old captain. "That's how much ya'll care about her. Don't let her be nothin' but what you want. Just like her gorram parents. Put her in the box and keep her there 'til you need her genius brain."

"That's got nothin' to do with you," Mal gave a halfway decent snarl himself. "You'll turn her over or I swear by the dear an' fluffy lord you'll wish you had." Riddick could smell the scent of shame coming off of Zoe, the realization maybe, of what they'd been doing to the girl they swore they loved like family. Mal didn't seem to realize it though, too caught up in his fight to even realize Jayne had back up.

"What are you gonna do to me Mal? Space me? We're dirtside," Jayne's growl was every bit as dangerous as Riddick's might have been in his place. "You can try to fight me, or shoot me, hell you could have Zoe shoot me. But that's the problem with a man like me Mal, I'm a gun hand. I'm mean an' I'm tough an' I'm gorram hard to kill. But what you never figured out, is that I'm also gāi sǐ loyal."

"Loyal? Cào nǐ zǔ zōng shí bā dài you're loyal," Mal nearly squawked in his indignation and Riddick almost, almost, forgot himself enough to laugh. "You threatened to sell me out at least once a week."

"No," Jayne shook his head, "I'm loyal to her. She's my partner. And if she got off that damned boat then I'll find her. But I got no obligation to you Mal. I don't owe anythin' to the man treated me lower'n chòu mǎniào."

"What'd you want a raise in pay?" Reynolds rolled his eyes and Riddick wondered if shooting him just on general principles would be all right with River and Jayne. The man was starting to annoy him somethin' powerful. "All you ever cared about was money Jayne."

"No, that was all you ever saw me care about," Jayne shook his head and unfolded his arms, putting his hands on his hips, and dangerously close to his guns. "But she's worth more than your ten percent. If I can find her don't care if I hafta live with pigs to be around her. Hell I'd go an' work for Badger if that's what she wanted. But since you decided I ain't good enough for her I left. Since she left, well that means I matter more to her than you do Mal. And that's what sticks in your craw. The gǒu niáng yǎng de who tried to sell her matters more than her Cap'n Daddy."

"So help me Jayne, I ain't playin'," Mal was growing calmer, just as Jayne was turning icy cold. "You had better bring her down or I swear I'll riddle you with holes."

"That you won't," Big Daddy had plainly had enough, walking to the bottom of the ramp to stand by Jayne. Almost three inches taller than Jayne and half again as wide in his white coat and suit Captain Holbrook was an imposing figure, "This man is in my employ and he's doing a decent job of keepin' the riff raff out far as I can tell."

"Thank you Big Daddy," Jayne's head dipped in a polite nod.

"He's kidnapped one of my crew," Reynolds addressed the more reasonable seeming of the two men.

"Well if he has then he's holding her someplace else," Big Daddy put his hands on his hips. "I got exactly three women on this boat. My bartender, my cook and one waitress I just hired, little thing with pretty green eyes an' brown hair. Now if that's your crew member she waltzed aboard calm as you please and ain't over familiar with my new gun hand. Near's I can tell she's related to the other fella I hired."

"That'd be me," Riddick snarled from the shadows. "Now we appreciate like anythin' that you took us off that wreck. An' soon's we scrape coin together we'll send you whatever it is you think we owe. But Cobb's been nice to my girl an' decent to me. Don't appreciate the way you treated him an' his little partner. Seems to me the girl's better off without self-righteous folks treat her like a box a rocks one minute and an angel the next." He moved forward the better for them to see the gun he held, "Now you've got exactly five seconds to take your leave or I'll riddle you with holes."

"You heard him," Big Daddy hooked his hands on his lapels. "Now if you want you can send a wave with the girl's description and name and I'll keep an eye out. But she ain't a passenger on this boat." He began to turn away, "You're blockin' my customers, so you'd best go on before my gun hands decide their job description is a mite too narrow an' start shootin' of their own accord."

"Jayne I ain't done with you," Mal was spitting mad and Riddick kept his gun trained on the man.

"I'm done with you Mal," Jayne shook his head. "Unless I find River an' she wants to see you, I don't expect to ever see you again Captain Reynolds."

Riddick watched as the big man deliberately turned his back on Mal and began to walk back towards the bar. When it seemed as if Reynolds would draw his gun, Riddick decided he'd had enough, "Go on an' keep lookin' for your crew." He scowled at the Browncoat, "There's nothin' belongs to you here."

"We'll see," Reynolds shook his head and began to stalk away. Zoe turned to go after him but stopped when Riddick called her name.

"Got nothin' against you, and Jayne speaks pretty high of your man, but you come and point a weapon at my partner again, come in search of what ain't yours, you'd best be wearin' better than that armor," Riddick told her flatly. "I don't care that you're carrying. I'll shiv you straight in the belly and bedamned to you having any children if you live through the wound I'll give you."

Zoe nodded, her dark face pasty and he could smell her fear as she turned to follow Mal. Riddick took a seat on a crate near the entrance and took a deep breath. That had been a fun exercise in lying and deception. And now he knew that Jayne smelt of rust when he lied.

Jack

Jack sat quietly with River listening as the Reader repeated the conversation a deck below, tears trickling down her face. Finally it was done, Mal was gone and his possessive angry thoughts with him. "My Jayne has a drink before he comes up to see us," River said softly. "Doesn't trust himself to be gentle. Doesn't know I'd welcome him however he chose to come to me."

"Want me to go down and send him up?" Jack asked softly, not really sure what River needed. She'd been able to see everything that had happened down in the bay, one bonus to being clairvoyant, she didn't need to be somewhere to know what was happening, especially if she had a connection to it. Since Riddick had been there she'd Seen most of what was happening.

"No," River leaned against her and shook her head after a moment. "No good ever came of forcing my Jayne to do something, even if its something he wants." She thought for a moment and a little giggled bubbled out of her mouth, "Especially if it's something he wants."

"Contrary?" Jack asked with a smile.

"You have no idea," The dancer shook her head. "He's amazingly stubborn. Why do you think I'm just waiting for him to do something? If I try to push him I'll end up waiting until I'm twenty-eight before he kisses me."

"What's the big deal about kissing?" Jack really didn't get it, though now that she thought about it Riddick didn't kiss either, at least he hadn't ever kissed her. Of course until a few weeks ago he'd thought she was twelve. Being twenty-one and looking twelve didn't help her case.

"Narcotic compound spread over a seal on the lips," River explained. "Kiss someone afterwards and they get it on their lips. They go to sleep, abruptly and deeply. Rob or kill them at your leisure."

"Whores use that to rob people," Jack realized. "And since Riddick and Jayne..."

"Used to frequent whores," River continued the sentence. "Neither of them is accustomed to kissing." She sighed and Jack echoed it.

"Have you ever been kissed?" Jack asked her friend curiously.

"Exuberant, kissed Jayne when he gave her a present, very quickly on the mouth," River nodded. "But that does not count as a kiss. Not romantic, no participation by partner... No, never been kissed."

"Yeah," Jack shrugged and shook her head. "Me neither." She looked at River, "I know what my problem is, but what's stopped you?"

"Never alone," River shrugged. "Very rarely allowed off the boat and always in the company of others. When alone with Jayne...very conscious of his proximity but he never expressed an interest in such things with her, not until recently."

"How'd he express an interest then," Jack wanted to know, "Since you ain't seemed real sure that he was even interested."

"She was able to purchase clothing that fit her properly," River smiled slightly. "Jayne's man parts stood up and took notice. Jayne had difficulty remaining in the same room as his partner without thinking on her legs or other curves. Spoke with her, assured her that he'd always known she was a woman, but other seeing her as adult made him subconsciously relax his mental control. Thought she was beautiful. But still tried to keep those thoughts away from her until she told him, she did not mind his thoughts, nor his dreams. And then Riddick very neatly proved that Jayne wants me to belong to him. Very nice of your partner."

"So he's been thinkin' on sexin' you but he ain't been thinkin' of kissin'," Jack clarified. "What about Riddick?"

"Riddick does not think of sexing me," River hastened to reassure her friend and Jack rolled her eyes.

"No River, I meant does he think about me? Sexin' me," Jack clarified.

"Oh," The Reader tilted her head. "Not as such," She shook her head and Jack felt suddenly and intensely miserable.

"He thinks of you often," River looked at Jack and she could see her friends' eyes were thoughtful, considering what she'd read from Riddick. "I can tell he's a highly sexual male, he's much like Jayne in that regard, but he does his best to not put you in that context."

"At all?" Jack thought of the touching that day and frowned, "But he..."

"His thoughts are constantly touching on you," River tried to explain and Jack nodded her understanding. "He thinks of you, of what it will be like when he allows himself to touch. His desire right now... it is more that you be his. Hoped you would want him when you turned eighteen. He feels as if he is unworthy of you, because he thought of you when you weren't grown. Doesn't seem to understand that it's not your body, it's your mind that calls to him."

"So he doesn't think I'm pretty even?" Jack hadn't really thought this could get worse but River just kept proving her wrong. River made a frustrated noise in her throat and Jack looked at her, "What?"

"Jack is not understanding her," River shook her head. "Rick does not understand that what he feels for you is love. It goes beyond sex. He delights in your intelligence; in your sharp tongue and your touch…it comforts him. He simply wanted you to belong to him, wouldn't think of sex with you because you appeared so young. He wanted to teach and protect you."

"So you're sayin' that what he feels is changin'," Jack said slowly. "Got a little indicator of that this afternoon."

"Yes," River nodded. "He wasn't easy for me to Read, at least not at first but when his thoughts concern you they're so loud he nearly shouts with it. The idea that you are of an age that isn't too disparate from his, that you are a woman, an adult mentally and soon to be one physically, it eases his mind. His worry over how good you felt in his arms, his need to touch constantly, is eased. He felt like a dirty old man whenever he started to wonder what you'd look like grown, at least he did before."

"So part of why he's been blowin' hot and cold since we met has been because he thought I was a kid and he was feelin' like he wanted me anyway," Jack said slowly. "Poor man."

"Yes," River nodded. "Like Kaylee's old storybooks of a man being attracted to a woman disguised as a boy. Disgust with himself for the desire, relief to find his instincts were correct."

"No wonder he's been skimpy on the touching since we got to Serenity," Jack felt an intense sensation of relief. "Hearing I was twenty-one and just stunted must have been…" She shook her head in amazement.

"Never experienced anything like it," River nodded. "As if everything inside him came to life and began to shout just for you. His mind is like…it's hard to describe. He's balanced, perfectly balanced between intellect and instinct. Your Richard is much like my Jayne in that way."

"Yeah?" Jack could feel the smile spreading her mouth at the thought of Riddick's happiness or whatever it was, just because he'd heard she was old enough for him. "So we both like bad men?"

"No," River took the question seriously, not how Jack had meant it but that was all right. She liked to hear River thoughts; they were always interesting and sometimes funny. "No, our men aren't bad. They are…morally unique."

"That's an interestin' way to describe an escaped an' convicted murderer," Jack's voice dropped to a whisper even as she giggled.

"No, they don't…" River rolled her eyes at Jack and in turn Jack made a silly face at her. River's smile was fond and exasperated both. "Most people follow the moral code laid out for them by society, by their parents or whoever influenced them the most. Our men don't. They have their own moral code."

"The one that says murder is all right but killing a kid for bait is wrong," Jack said slowly remembering Riddick's decision to kill Johns on planet. She'd seen it, seen it in her mind, that Johns had wanted her dead, the nothing but trouble kid, easily dismissed as worthless except for her use as bait. Riddick's fury at the thought hadn't shown in his face or voice but she'd seen it in the suddenly relaxed lines of his body as he made a decision. Her tears afterward hadn't ever been for Johns, but in the sheer relief that Riddick would never have killed her.

"Yes," River nodded. "To the minds of our men, the death of a man, an adult who has wronged is nothing. Easily dismissed. To my Jayne, torturing a man for answers, if it is in the protection of others, is nothing over which to worry. But rape… or abuse of the helpless…torture simply because someone can…he has killed for less."

"So our partners have developed their own set of mores," Jack said thoughtfully. "What about us?"

"Not sure what Jack has been doing since escape," River was looking at Jack with the fathomless gaze that meant she was Reading her. "Interesting," She said after a moment. "Like me, learned to be flexible in certain areas, unbending in others."

"Survival's been all I worried about for a long time," Jack offered with a frown. "Don't know if that makes me good or bad…just know that worryin' 'bout niceties like property boundaries, wasn't the way to keep body an' soul together."

She looked at River, halfway worried the other girl would denounce her for her choices but River just shrugged, "Allowed myself to be used by my old captain, expertise needed and then, as Jayne said, put back in my box. Let the thoughts of others define me. No room to throw stones at Jack's survival when I am such a poor creature."

Jack blinked in surprise, "River that don't make you weak, well, not really." She shook her head, "So was it the smartest thing you'd done? Probably not, but you were there for more'n three years right? And you were crazy the first year. What could you have done differently?"

"Pushed Simon and Mal for a place, for more than what they let me be," River mused meeting Jack's gaze. "But Simon was overprotective, Mal thought I was fragile, even after Miranda they thought I needed to be protected. Tried to…be more, to show them I... Learned all I could. The only one who saw me was Jayne."

"River, dunno how much you know about Captain's and the law," Jack said slowly. "But Captain's word is law on his ship. Iffen Big Daddy decided we were headed to Boros an' not Beylix he'd be within his rights. Crew has to obey the Captain. Captain's responsible for everything on the ship, law abidin' or not. Crew does somethin' wrong, it's the Captain who's on the line for it. So your old crew really couldn't disobey him an' let you do what you pleased."

"It still seems weak," River shook her head stubbornly and Jack sighed.

"Jayne don't seem like the type to tolerate weak real well," She pointed out dryly. "An' knowin' who you are an' tryin' to do more than they'd let you ain't weak. Can't help what's past."

"Jack is right," River conceded and it was her turn to sigh. "Didn't get a good idea, just impressions, about your life since the Academy. What have you been doing?"

"Didn't get out until…almost a year after you?" Jack shook her head, "My sense a time is off. The drugs you know? But it was right about the time of the Miranda Wave. They were all in a frenzy about it, really going chī xiàn . I must have gotten used to the drugs because when they doped me I really didn't feel it. Faked that I did and killed my guard. Got out by the skin of my teeth. I think I've still got a piece of a bullet in my upper arm. But I stowed away board the first ship I could find. Spent the next year and a half running, hiding. Lived on skyplexes mostly, stealing or pick pocketing to eat. Managed to save up enough to buy passage to the rim, old cargo carrier with a converted section for passengers. Didn't realize the reason it was so cheap was because it was cryo."

River made a face and Jack nodded in agreement, "Wonder if they realized what they did to us would keep us awake in cryo?"

"Not all kinds," River shook her head. "Simon put me in a box, put me to sleep but part of me was awake. Made me even more crazy."

"Yeah, was never so glad to have Sight as I was when I was stuck in that damn tube," Jack nodded. "I could still See. Couldn't move much but my brain worked and I could See. All the passengers, where we were, how we'd all gotten there."

"Handy information to have," River nodded. "Will you tell me what happened?" She tilted her head, a curious smile on her face, "She can tell there is a tale."

"Maybe when Riddick an' Jayne are with us," Jack said slowly. "Ain't somethin' I like thinkin' 'bout overmuch. Lost some decent people on that rock. Some that were tryin' to be decent even if they didn't start out perfect." It was her turn to tilt her head, "So what do you remember about that first year? And what have you been doing since?"

Author's Note: So the grand escape wasn't without it's flaws. But Mal and company have been stymied for the moment. Hope you're all enjoying.

Chinese Translations:

pì gu (butt)

gāi sǐ (damned)

Cào nǐ zǔ zōng shí bā dài (fuck your ancestors to the eighteenth generation)

chòu mǎniào (stinking horse piss)

gǒu niáng yǎng de (son of a bitch)

chī xiàn (crazy/insane)