A/N: Only one chap for now. I'm still trying to perfect 13, maybe I'll have it up in a few days. Hope you enjoy. And thanks for the reviews.

Chapter 12

I can't say that I was avoiding Riddick, because I was always with him; but I can say that I was avoiding the pregnancy topic. Partly because I half believed it to be true, and half thought the test was wrong. The one difference now was that we hadn't been having sex as much as before. I would sometimes find excuses not to; other times it was inevitable. I knew I had to tell him eventually, he deserved to know I was carrying his child, but I had no I idea how to tell him. I continuously thought the scenario over in my mind. I thought about all of the ways he would react to the news. In the end, I still didn't want to tell him because I was afraid of his reaction to my news. But Riddick was no fool. He knew something was up with me by the way I had been acting toward him.

One day he had almost cornered me to confront me about the distance I was trying to put between us. I managed to get away by fast talking Arianna into going out to get some food supplies. I had her out of the building before she knew what was going on. While we were walking the streets we talked about my situation. "You haven't told him yet, have you?" I shamefully shook my head. "Why not? What are you waiting for?"

"The right moment. The right way to tell him. You don't know how difficult this is for me?"

"Why is it difficult? Just tell the man you're gonna have his kid. Hell, I'll tell him."

"No, Ari. It's not that simple. I wish it was though."

Arianna sighed, "I don't get you, Jaz. But I hope you figure this out… soon." We walked into a small market at the corner of the block. I hadn't been inside long before I noticed the man from the Company base. He was in the back looking at the liquor. He grabbed several bottles of clear alcohol and started for the cashier. I ducked behind a rack and pulled Arianna with me. "What's up, Jaz?"

"That guy over there," I pointed to the man at the counter, "He's one of the men from the base. I don't know if he saw me and would recognize me." She nodded to show she understood. We both looked over and watched the man. While the cashier was bagging up his purchase, the Company man was taking a piece of paper out of his jacket and handed it to the man as he was being handed the bag of liquor. We barely heard what he said to the man, but we got the gist. He wanted him to post the paper up in his store. The cashier nodded. We waited a moment while the other man walked out of the store. We waited a few more moments before walking to the counter to pay for our supplies. While he totaled the merchandise, we looked at the piece of paper still sitting on the counter. It was a drawing of Riddick with a bounty on it. Of course, there was always something, just had to be.

Arianna diverted his attention while I snatched up the paper. I stuffed it in my pocket and continued feeling around to appear as though I was searching for something. Then I found said thing and paid the man. He smiled at us before we took the bags and left. The two of us hurried back to the apartment. I looked around to see if anymore posters were up. I let out a frustrated sigh. I didn't need this now; it was just adding insult to injury. It would help me stall for more time before I had to tell Riddick, but it also meant danger for the four of us.

Inside the building, we greeted the old woman behind the counter before rushing up the stairs. We both went to my room and locked the door behind us. "What's wrong with you?" Riddick asked from his seat on the bed. I put the bags down and reached in my pocket for the paper. He took and looked at it. Riddick shrugged, balled it up, and discarded it over his shoulder. "Figures."

"What now?" Arianna asked. I guess we were all thinking it and openly asked to get a consensus, but I think we all knew what we had to do.

"Start packin'," I said. We all did. Arianna went to her room while Riddick and I got our stuff together. We had accumulated more stuff than I had realized over our stay. I got out my same duffle from my escape from Lineia; I only packed what was necessary and would fit. Arianna came back into the room with her bag in hand. "You're ready?" She nodded.

"We have enough weapons, right?" she asked.

"We should." I looked at what we had. "Okay, we'll lay low until nightfall."

"How's the ship? Has anyone checked on it?" I forgot about that. I hope it was in suitable shape, at least to get away and to another planet. I looked to Riddick for an answer. He had no idea either. I guess we got too settled.

"I'll go see," Arianna started for the door. As she reached for the doorknob, knocks came from the other side. She stepped back a few paces and then looked at us. Riddick headed for the window and climbed out. I closed it behind him. I turned around just as the door was opening.

The old woman who owned the building was removing her key. A few men came in after her. They wore Company clothes. "That's the two I was tellin' you 'bout. I don't know where the big fella is, though." The men came in and looked around. "This suite is the largest, but there's not many places he could be. He must've left."

"Well," one large, rotund man with a straggly beard said as he handed her a stack of cash, "We'll just take these two. He should follow." I became panicked. I didn't want to fight. I knew I could take these few, especially with Arianna's help, but I was afraid for my child. My only desire, in that moment, was to protect my child. So I stayed still as he put the restraints on my wrists. Arianna looked at me, confusion written all over her face. She was wondering why I didn't want to fight. One of the men saw the bag on her back and took it off.

"Looks like they were tryin' to leave," another said while Arianna was being cuffed.

"Not anymore," the corpulent man interjected. He pushed us forward. We followed the man in front of us while the others were behind us with guns to our backs. I sighed to myself as we headed toward the glider outside, here we go again.

They helped us into the glider, keeping their weapons cocked and pointed at us. I looked back at the building while we drifted away. Would he come after me? I kept asking myself that same question. It was anyone's guess, but I hoped he would. I was starting to notice I had a lot of faith in him. But would he let me down?

I knew where they were taking us, but the trip seemed so much longer than when I had come out here by myself. The building came into view and we were soon inside of the hangar. They unloaded us from the glider and led us to the brig. "What are we gonna do with them, Boss?" a slender, blonde man asked the round man from before.

"We'll wait a li'l while, see if Riddick comes," he looked at us, "If he doesn't, well… we can find something to do with them." He gave us a lecherous smile. I returned the smile with a look of disgust, which caused him to laugh. They left after that.

"What the hell, Jaz?" Arianna was very frustrated. "Why didn't you want to fight them back there? You know we could've taken them."

"I know," I looked down and touched my stomach. "But I was afraid. I didn't want anything to happen to my baby." She sighed and her fury seemed to lessen.

"All right. So how are we gonna get out of this one? Nothing against Riddick, but I'm not tryin' to wait around for him."

"Me neither." Now how do we get out of this dilemma?