CHAPTER NINE:

Telling Jack

AN:

Here ya go guys. Another chapter. And I'm POOPED from work.

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RIDDICK

Riddick just barely concealed his growl as he watched the merc shoulder his way past the young woman. Johns was just racking up debts…..debts that would eventually be paid. The Furyan convict thought back to how the merc had clumsily attempted to wipe up the Captains face; the guy didn't even know how to properly clean his own packmate!

Then there was that "boy" Jack, the pup who reeked of blood. Riddick snorted. That "boy" wasn't a boy, but a girl, and one that would need to get some meat in her soon to replace the blood she was losing.

This time the growl that Riddick let out was aimed at himself. The only person he had to worry about was himself! Not some pup on her way to becoming a woman, not some woman who could appear out of thin air, not some brown-skinned free settler who had followed his orders…..that one would make a good beta, provided he could be loyal and trustworthy to the right people.

No, the only one Richard B. Riddick would be taking care of was Richard B. Riddick….only even HE wasn't even buying what his mind was selling.

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ZEKE AND SHAZZA

The Free-Settler couple walked close to each other as they made their way out of the ruined ship to go see Paris's find which, as Cassie claimed, was going to be booze in an Egyptian coffin.

Zeke didn't say it, but he was rather hoping what Paris had WASN'T booze so he could at least discredit Cassies' hair-brained idea that she knew what was going to happen next.

Shazza nestled herself under Zekes shoulder and whispered; "So, really, how hard DO you think she hit her head? Because she's saying some pretty crazy stuff."

Zeke shrugged his big shoulders. "I dunno. I mean, she has a bump on her head, but she's talking without stuttering, doesn't seem to be stumbling…much." He amended as the young woman in question managed to trip on seemingly nothing, ending up face first in the sand.

Shazza snorted, but called forward; "Heah! Are you okay!?"

Cassie raised one hand off of the ground and gave a thumbs up before pushing herself up off the ground, a laughing Jack running up to help her.

"So you don't think a hit to the head is causing these…these delusions?" Shazza asked quietly, watching as the young Jack helped Cassie up, snorting in laughter.

Zeke shrugged again. "I dunno, Shaz. I'm not a doctor. Come on, let's go see what this Paris guy has."

"Right." Shazza said, trying rather unsuccessfully to push aside her worries.

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CASSIE AND JACK

"Ugh, sand." Cassie stood and began to dust the little granules off of her kitty pajama pants. Then she added an old Disney line for good measure, smirking as she did so. "Sand. It's everywhere. Get used to it."

Jack, laughing at her tumble, arched an eyebrow before asking; "Walk much?"

"Yeah, ever since I was two, and I still trip and fall." Cassie replied, wrapping an arm around Jacks shoulders and walking with her.

"So," Jack began, pushing Cassies arm from her shoulders in a gruff 'I'm-not-a-kid-anymore' teenage way. "What'd you tell the others that's got'em so freaked out?"

The brunette sighed and pushed back a long strand of her fast-drying hair. "I told them the truth about me."

"Which is?" Jack asked, kicking at the sand in a bored way.

Cassie chewed her lower lip anxiously. She really didn't want to alienate Jack, but the kid would hear it from someone sooner or later and she'd rather it be from her. "Well, I kinda already know what's going to happen."

Jack smiled, obviously thinking she was kidding. "Uh-huh."

Cassie sighed. "I'm being serious, hon. I know that Johns is a mercenary-druggie, I know there's going to be an eclipse today causing total darkness and also allowing the things underground, which light hurts, by the way, to come up and try to eat us all."

Jack was now looking at her rather cagily and starting to edge away.

Cassie lowered her voice and pulled out the big guns. "I also know you're really a girl and your real name is Audrey."

She could have hit the kid with a two-by-four and gotten the same response; Jacks eyes went as big as plates, her jaw dropped and she actually physically leaned away from her.

The reaction sent unexpected pangs into Cassies heart. True, it wasn't like she expected Jack to believe her right away, or to support her whole-heartedly, but she didn't want the kid afraid of her.

Finally, 'Jack' regained her voice-box. "I-I don't know what you're talking about! You're CRAZY!"

Cassie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm not going to tell anyone, Jack, so relax."

"Yeah, well, it's a good thing I'm a boy and you're just insane!"

Cassie winced. Her plan of telling Jack had backfired to mammoth proportions. The kid seemed like she was having a panic attack!

"Okay, okay!" Cassie hastened to reassure the teen, trying to think of how to calm her down.

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RIDDICK

The sound of yelling brought Riddick out of the relative safety of the ship into the bright light as he quietly and stealthily prowled his way around the metal behemoth, a hand-made shiv at the ready. Something was freaking the pup out. The little tomboys panic and fear were permeating the air and he didn't like it. He was made even more unhappy when the scent of his mates panic was added to the mix.

Wait…..mate?

Shoving the thought aside for another time, preferably when the woman and pup in his pack were calm, and peered carefully around a protrusion of the ship. There was the woman-from-another-realm (mate) and his pup. . . . . The two free-settlers were fast approaching the pair, but there were no other enemies that he could see or hear or sense. So what on Earth was going on!?

That was when some of what the pup was screaming reached his ears.

"Yeah, well, it's a good thing I'm a boy and you're just insane!"

If Riddick had been that type of person, he would have face-palmed himself. What was the woman thinking going around and telling everyone the truth!?

The pup was really working herself into a good tantrum, Shazza and Zeke joining in and Riddick crouched in the sand, torn between instinct to pack and a long-engrained instinct to stay hidden, to learn more.

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AN: Bonus points to whomever can remember which movie that Disney line is from! LOL.