He fidgeted the whole ride, biting his knuckles like a dog gnawing on a bone. Jack suspected he chewed on himself to keep her from hearing his teeth chatter. He had to be cold, wearing only a light canvas jacket over his bare upper body.

He tried to jump out of the car when she pulled up in the driveway, but the doors were child locked, and he couldn't get out without help from outside. Jack had planned it that way, wanting an answer before she let him back into her house and in contact with the wife he'd physically assaulted earlier that evening.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked, hitting the engine shutdown on the dash and turning to look at him.

Quickly realizing he was trapped, Dom turned those frightening demon eyes on her. "You won't believe me unless you see it for yourself," he said, his tone lowering to a threatening pitch.

Jack glared right back at him in the dimly lit car, unafraid. "When I was thirteen I almost got eaten by a giant chicken. Try me, Dominic, just try me."

He growled deep in his chest, a sound that Jack remembered him making when they were young. Only he'd never used it to sound quite so irritated back then...

"Dallas was born blind."

"I know."

"He never had a single operation done on his eyes."

"What about when they put in the implants in?"

"What implants," he stated deadpan, letting heavy silence blanket her so she could think about the fact that he wasn't asking a question.

Jack shook her head. "I don't understand. He got his sight back through some medical miracle. He tells people his eyes look weird because he has implants. So what? Is he supposed to tell people the supposedly dead Con-X is his father, and that means he isn't exactly human?"

Dom turned an empty gaze toward the front windshield, his dark features helping him fade into the shadows. "I'm not saying his eyes got better. He can see, but not really. Not like you see, not like I see, not like anyone in the universe sees. His optic nerves never developed, but when he got old enough, his mind compensated.

"The last time I saw Dallas, he was five years old. Bounty hunters had tracked me down, and they caught me when I tried to escape with him. They threw me against a wall, lined up and laughed about how they were going to kill me execution-style—put me down like a rabid dog. I had Dallas in my arms, and I tried to protect him with my body when they opened fire, but the bullets dropped to the floor before hitting me. It was like some invisible wall stopped all those bullets, because Dallas willed them to stop. His sight is a minor side effect of some talent I can't even fathom.

"There're only two things I know for sure about what Dally's got. First of all, I know it's genetic. And second of all—I know he sure as fuck didn't get it from me."


The air in Jack's house smelled mildly like ozone, but other than that everything appeared in order. From the looks of things, everyone was in bed, asleep.

Jack didn't tell Dom where to go, he just knew. She followed right on his heels up the steps, and down the hall toward the guest bedroom. It was harder for her to keep up with him than she remembered.

He threw open the door and entered the room. Jack tried to peer around his broad frame. In the darkness she glimpsed Pace thrashing against the confines of her blankets. She'd sweated through her t-shirt, and woken her daughter.

"Mommy, please wake up. Please," the girl begged, trying to shake her mother from the nightmare she suffered.

Dom sat down on the edge of the bed, taking his wife's face gently between his hands, brushing her wet hair behind her ears. "Wake up, Pacey. Come on, baby, wake up," he whispered.

After a moment she stilled, her head turning first one way and then the other. Slowly, her eyes opened.

"Domy?" she whispered.

"I'm here, baby. You're safe. It was just a dream."

"Domy," she choked, rising to wrap her arms around his neck. She sobbed while he pulled her onto his lap, holding her tight to his body. The way she cried and cried, Jack wondered if she'd ever be able to stop.

She's suffered so much before today, and it broke down her defenses. Poor woman. She lost her son and husband long before now. Me? I'm just in shock. I act like I expect Cam and Rachel to try sneaking in without Riddick hearing any minute. For Pace it's already sunk in that she might never see Dallas again.

Jack decided to give this broken family their peace, turning to go. Before she left, she noticed the entire room was in disarray, like a tornado had gone through and made a mess of everything.

She couldn't help but wonder how Dom had known Pace needed him so desperately.