A/N: So why does Jack run away? Is it just so she can find Riddick, or was it something more? Please review, I really do enjoy reading what you have to say.

I do not own Pitch Black, Dark Fury, Chronicles of Riddick, or Riddick, nor do I own their characters or the story lines. I own only Rehtaeh and any new characters that I may add, and any plot changes that may happen within.

I really hope you enjoy the story! :D

Chapter 36

*Rehtaeh*

They made it back to New Mecca only a few weeks behind schedule and walked directly into an ambush by Toombs and a couple of his buddies. She was standing at the bottom of the ships ramp looking at the three Mercs standing on her front porch. One of the lackeys had a gun to Imam's head. Rehtaeh looked at the big hairy Merc as though he had two heads.

"Toombs, right?" Rehtaeh asked him as he blocked her way into her house.

"That's right." Toombs looked at her, his eyes skimmed her body from head to foot and back up again, both times he had lingered for a minute too long on her breasts.

"What the fuck do you want?" She glared at him, her voice dripping with hostility.

"Well I was gonna pop you for the hit you had on yer head, but it's been magically removed." He drawled stalking towards her. Heath and Carolyn stepped down behind her, Heath with his hands hovering over his hip holsters, cowboy style. Carolyn's arms were crossed protectively over her very pregnant body. "Apparently the man who entered it was convinced to remove it before his untimely death. We know you did it. That's murder, Sister. So what happened?"

"Remner had an unfortunate accident in an airlock." Rehtaeh said coldly as the memory of the night passed through her mind. She shifted on her feet, watching carefully for an attack.

"Is that right? You care to elaborate?" Toombs was trying to goad her. "I hear tell that there is a video."

"Really? Does the video have Alliance Evidence stamped on it?" Rehtaeh returned, she pulled out her wallet and flashed her Class 9 Clearance badge at the Merc, and stowed it away. "I didn't murderer him Toombs. I did execute him for his crimes. That was my job. Regardless, I have immunity. Read my file."

"What's a person gotta do to get Immunity? Musta been big." Toombs sneered at her. The asshole knew all this. His face said that she was not telling him anything knew. He was fishing.

"I made some really, really big donations to society." Rehtaeh smirked at him. "Of the non-monetary kind. You could say that my sacrifices have been for the good of all humanity."

"Is that right?" He drawled, he was leering at her. She could feel his eyes as he perused her body. She wore her black skin tight jeans, red fitted tank top, and her well worn combat boots with the knives hidden within. She was wearing her holster, carrying both of her guns and concealing her two knives. He couldn't see her arsenal, but the look on his face indicated that he knew she was carrying more.

"That's right." Rehtaeh growled back, she met his gaze when it finally came back to her black glasses. "Piss or get off the pot, Toombs. We both know you're not here for me. What do you want?"

"Riddick. Your husband remember?" Toombs sneered at her. She rolled her eyes, she knew that lie was going to haunt her. "We know you are cozy, Princess, so how 'bout you tell us where he is."

"How 'bout, No." Rehtaeh looked at the Merc holding his gun to Imams head. "As long as you are threatening my friends, I am not giving you shit. Now kindly get off my property, you are trespassing."

"I ain't leaving without your boy toy Riddick, now where the fuck is he?" Toombs said again as he walked towards her, the other Merc pressed his gun harder against Imam's head.

Rehtaeh ignored his question, it was redundant and she was not in the mood to deal with idiots. She was barely holding in the rage that had been building in her for weeks. There were some days that she was sure that she was just going to disintegrate. Today was one of them. "I'm not in the mood Toombs. Either you get over here and dust my ass or get the fuck off my porch."

"I am not leaving without information." Toombs growled starting towards her again, closing the distance.

"Imam go inside, this may get ugly." Rehtaeh told the holy man. He didn't have to be asked twice, the moment the Merc lowered his gun, Imam had stepped as far away as possible. The merc looked back at the holy man before he followed Toombs onto the path, leaving Imam free to return to the safety of the house. As soon as the door closed, Toombs was well within range. She threw a high round kick hitting the unsuspecting Merc in the cheekbone and nose. There was an audible crunch and his nose began to bleed. "This is my final warning, get off of my property now, before I do more than break your fucking nose."

"You fucking bitch!" He ran at her and she dipped her knees, dropped her shoulder into his belly and lifted him off the ground. Throwing him deftly over her shoulder, he landed hard on his back. She spun quickly and sat on his chest, pinning his shoulders down with her knees. She had her blade against his throat.

"Get this through your thick skull, you bull headed Mercenary freak, I am not with Riddick. He is not here. He did not tell me where he was going. Leave me the fuck alone." She spoke slowly, steadily and clearly. "If you or anyone else darkens my door way, or accosts my friends, they will die. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Toombs gravelly voice muttered under his breath.

"Louder, I want to hear you. Do you understand?" Rehtaeh pressed the knife closer to his carotid artery.

"Yes, damn it! I understand." Toombs barked at her.

"Good, for a moment I wasn't sure you would understand short sentences, much less small words. And I don't speak Merc." Rehtaeh growled back, she stood and backed away keeping her blade in her hand. "Now get the fuck off my land before I take your head."

The two Mercs grabbed Toombs and pulled him towards their ship, which was on her landing pad. Toombs cursed her the entire way. Heath and Carolyn went inside but she waited until they lifted off and left her airspace before going inside. She looked at Imam who was standing in the kitchen looking shaken. "You okay Imam?"

"I have had better days." He told her, with a half-smile. He no longer looked like he was angry with her, he just looked sad. She knew that look. It was one of pity, "It looks like you have had better days too?"

"Today is better than most, Imam. You were right; I should have never taken out Remner." She turned and headed towards the stairs.

"My sister was one of his victims." Imam said quietly. If his sister was a victim, he would have seen the video. He would have seen her depravity, and would have seen her lose her humanity. Now she understood the pity. "He deserved punishment, but it should not have been you to carry it out. You were a victim too."

She turned and looked back at him with tears in her eyes. His eyes flicked over to Heath and Carolyn who were giving huge hugs to both Jack and Suleiman. "Do not tell them what I did Imam. I do not want them to know what kind of monster I have become. They have enough to worry about."

"I see that." Imam said thoughtfully as he looked at the very happy and very pregnant couple. She noticed that he didn't argue with her about turning into a monster. He didn't need to, they both knew it was the truth, he saw it coming months ago. She spun on her heel and walked upstairs, not stopping until she reached the room she shared so briefly with Riddick.

She opened the door and his scent overwhelmed her. The tears began to fall before she even had the chance to close the door behind her. All of the events that happened over the past few months hit her square in the stomach. Riddick leaving, the long trip to Aguerra Prime, the warehouse, and dealing with Remner. She stripped out of her clothes changed into a pair of shorts and a sports bra, and then she went back downstairs and out the back door to the gym. She passed Suleiman, and Jack without a word of hello. She overheard Carolyn say, "She needs some space. Just give her time."

A lot happened while they were away. Imam's wife and daughter arrived the month before. Lajjun of course was in the same room as her husband and Ziza was staying in the room Carolyn used when she first arrived. The expecting couple was now in Heath's room in the basement where they could have more privacy. Imam and Suleiman bought a house in the city months before and used the time to have it renovated for their family. A week after their return Heath and Rehtaeh helped them move in. The cargo ship carrying the family's belongings arrived the week before and the many crates were finally being delivered by truck. The application that Carolyn started before they left was finalized and approved. They only needed to sign the official papers and within days of their return Carolyn had guardianship of Jack.

Rehtaeh spent the next few days in her house moving things around making it her own. Her yard was filled with contractors as she had them repaint the house, and landscape her yard. She had a full sized wading pool and play park created for when Heath and Carolyn's children got older. The upstairs spare bedrooms were redecorated, Jack chose the middle room on the top floor and Rehtaeh had a decorator come in to consult with Jack how she wanted it done. Rehtaeh's old bedroom was remodeled into a nursery and Heath and Carolyn chose the décor for it and the former blue room, which they took as their own. The other rooms were repainted and redecorated to make them cozier and less cold. Her parents room was given an overhaul. As much as she loved the colors, they were not deep enough or dark enough, it needed to be changed.

She had builders come in and build her a studio in the back near the pool. It had a small bedroom, for days when she might go into catharsis. There was a full washroom, and a laundry room. There was a room for stretching and framing her canvass. There was a massive storage room for her raw materials as well as another for her finished products. The main area was made completely of glass so that she would have light at all times. There were even lights built into the glass frames so that she could continue to paint at night if she wished and still keep the same lighting effects on her subjects. All of the work done in and around the house took less than a month to complete. She paid extra for it to be done well and to be done quickly.

Time moved in slow motion for her. She filled up every possible second of every single day, just to keep herself from thinking too much about Riddick. Or from obsessing about what she did to Remner. She spent time in the recording studio in the basement, messing around with the different instruments making an assortment of recordings. She spent hours in her gym, working up a sweat, trying to exorcise her demons. When she couldn't sleep she meditated. She worked through her feelings for Riddick and wrapped herself in that love. She systematically dissected what she did to Remner and reminded herself that he was the monster. She was only his executioner. What he did was not reflected on her.

It wasn't until she went into her studio one night and gave in to the emotional pressure inside of her, that she found release. While she painted she released the upsurge of emotions that were building inside her since she carried out Remner's sentence. She allowed herself to relive the moment as she poured the images onto canvas. Her human and beast sides were out of balance. It was like they were pulled apart during the execution. Now they were at odds with each other. She needed to reconcile and rebalance her dual nature. During her catharsis she imagined her human and she imagined her beast, painting both giving life to both. Her beast told her, 'Stop wallowing in self pity and hurt, he can't hurt you any more, you are stronger than this. Get up. Live.' And her human side replied, 'When you take over like that and relish the kill so joyously, it scares me. I am afraid of getting lost inside of you.' She painted them becoming entwined with each other, a perfectly joined creature that was playfully and dangerously animalistic, and honorably joyously human. When she came out of the studio days later, she felt whole again.

From then on her life became even busier. Imam begged her to attend city council meetings; somehow she was his new pet project, like he was trying to make her into some respectable citizen. Lajjun came out every couple of days for coffee or tea or just to get away from the bustle of the city. Ziza was a joy, she was about to turn four and was into everything. She loved visiting Rehtaeh in the studio, mostly because Rehtaeh would cover her in a paint shirt and give the girl access to her supplies. Carolyn forced her to be the secondary person in the delivery room, in case Heath wasn't available. This meant she had to take Carolyn to birthing classes. Rehtaeh was pretty sure that this was all Heath's doing. He was trying to keep her from pulling herself apart. He didn't need to, since she was already whole again, but she did appreciate the thought.

Jack reminded her that she promised to give her meditation and martial arts lessons. Jack was an avid student, her biggest problem was her guard. Rehtaeh drilled her over and over, but it seemed that every time they sparred the girl would lower her hands and she would get hit in the head. Jack would become petulant and accuse Rehtaeh of picking on her, and Rehtaeh would just bark at her to stop dropping her guard and she would stop going for the open head shot. Though Jack didn't really get the meditation, she did it without complaint, especially if Rehtaeh joined her. Rehtaeh enjoyed her time with Jack it was one of the few times that she could just be.

Suleiman joined Jack every day after school, he wasn't all that interested in the martial arts and he was certain that his father would not approve, he just wanted to spend time with Jack. So Rehtaeh taught him Tai Chi, which was like a mixture of martial arts and meditation rolled into one. Jack wanted to know everything, so whenever Rehtaeh was home she would give the girl a lesson. Carolyn and Heath also tried to keep Jack busy as well, they insisted she attend modified classes at the local high school and take some other types of local educational courses. Jack didn't like most of the changes, she was used to getting away with things with Imam, but Heath and Carolyn were stricter and watched her better. It was a struggle for all of them for the first couple of weeks, and then it seemed to settle nicely.

Rehtaeh was starting her business selling her paintings and started investing in everything from art, to computer technology, to ships and manufacturing. She also became more involved in the community, Tiller and Commandant Maxwell felt that she would make a good spokesperson for the military and were trying to convince her to become an ambassador for New Mecca and Helion Prime. The only time she was at home was to sleep, paint, work out or give Jack and Suleiman their lessons. Otherwise she was in town working on her various projects.

Her constant trips into town kept pulling Heath away from Carolyn and Jack, since it was his job as her personal guard to escort her when she was in public. Neither Heath nor Rehtaeh said anything about the sheer number of times they were accosted by Mercs. It seemed that Rehtaeh couldn't leave the property without someone trying to get Rehtaeh to tell them where to find Riddick. Worse it seemed that Toombs had gotten some official job with the Alliance and Rehtaeh couldn't take him down. Jack kept asking why Heath had to follow Rehtaeh around, and they kept telling her that it was because it was his job. They told her not to tell anyone about Riddick. They were up front with her that there were Mercs following everyone around.

Carolyn knew without asking, she just had to look at the bruises on Heath and Rehtaeh to know what was going on. She asked Rehtaeh quietly why the Mercs were still hounding her and Rehtaeh just told her never to marry the Big Evil. That lie just seemed to have become common knowledge for every greedy Merc in the known universe. The whole mess was becoming a nuisance for the Alliance, because there was a trail of bodies that needed to be cleaned up every week. She complained on a daily basis that there had to be a way to get these creeps to leave her alone.

She was beginning to burn out from the constant activity that she was doing, and the signs were becoming visible. Carolyn and Heath suggested several times that she should go out. Have fun, go dancing, go shopping, anything other than work. Finally one night Rehtaeh decided to take their advice. Maybe the change of scenery would do her good. She showered, dressed in a pair of black leather pants and a red halter top. She wore her heavy boots and tall leather cuffs that each concealed a blade within them. Just in case. She didn't tell Heath, she left without warning and figured that she could give him the night off.

It was well after midnight, she had drank more than her fair share of Vodka and Lime, she damn near lived on the dance floor since she arrived at nine, drawing the attention of both men and women. She was tuning them out. Ignoring the mass of freezing cold flesh that was pressed up against her, dancing and grinding body to body. Finally moving off the dance floor she ordered another drink and went to sit in the darkest possible corner. She stayed there for the remainder of the night, missing Riddick and drowning her need for him. Only the waitress seemed to know that she was there, and that was how Rehtaeh wanted it.

She was completely out of it when she stumbled out the door and into the street, having consumed copious amounts of vodka. She didn't notice the Mercs that were waiting for her outside. She was stumbling her way towards a taxi when one of the bouncers realized that she was nearly out of it, and steered her to the waiting car. He was helping Rehtaeh into the front passenger seat, when the Mercs attacked. They shot the bouncer in the back and hauled Rehtaeh from the car. The door slammed closed and the driver immediately locked the doors and called the authorities.

Rehtaeh only knew two things, the bouncer was hurt and she was in danger. Her protective instincts kicked in, momentarily clearing her drunken mind. The other was that once again Toombs had put his damn nose where it didn't fucking belong.

"You fucking shot him! You Fugly Mutt! What the fuck is up with Mercs and killing innocent people?" Rehtaeh yelled as she recognized Toombs in the group of four. She was on them within seconds. She could barely remember anything she did, her instincts had taken over and everything became a blur. All she remembered was being hauled off of Toombs, his nose bleeding profusely, by a local cop.

The taxi driver was finally able to get out of the car and went directly to the bouncer, who was just starting to wake up from the heavy tranquilizer that he had been shot with. Statements were taken. Heath was called to collect her from the police station. Toombs and Rehtaeh were both hauled to the local jail and had to be separated due to the insults they kept flinging at each other. Rehtaeh checked in at the desk, showed her ID and much to Toombs shock she was released and Heath came to take her home. He kept screaming that she had killed three Mercs. She should be going to jail, not be set free. She found out later that Toombs was released in the morning.

When she showed up at the house with a very tired Heath; Carolyn met her at the door. "What the hell happened, Heath says you tore apart three Mercs with your bare hands!"

"I don't know, the bouncer was shot, I saw him go down, we were in danger and I saw red. It was a blur." Rehtaeh said as she walked into the door. She stopped and looked down at her boots. There was blood on them, blood on her hands. She started to cry. It had been a long time since she had let herself cry. "They are never going to stop coming after me. I am putting everyone I love in danger."

"What the hell were you thinking leaving without me?" Heath yelled as he shook her once.

"What's going on?" Jack asked suddenly, as she appeared at the top of the stairs wearing her pajamas. She looked at Rehtaeh covered in blood, crying weakly in the middle of the hall. Though it was obvious that Jack was eavesdropping once again, the look on her face was initially one of shock and then turned to pure disgust. "And you guys are afraid of me turning into a monster? She goes out, gets hammered, comes back dripping in blood and can't remember half of it. Get off the floor and own up to it you coward."

"Jack's right. I'm a murderer. I thought I had it under control, but I don't. I am a monster. I can't seem to help it." Rehtaeh watched her go back to her room and then started rambling in drunken confession. She just started crying harder, oblivious to the cold pain as Carolyn wrapped her in her arms and started to rub her back. "I miss Riddick. She reminds me so much of him, it's hard to be reminded of why I miss him. Every day I find myself headed to the ship, going to get him back, and every day I stop myself just in time. It's killing me, Carolyn. Knowing where he is and not being able to go to him. I am dying inside."

The incident seemed to ignite Jacks anger; she started pushing her boundaries with all of them. She got caught sneaking out at night twice, Heath grounded her for a week each time. Then she got caught with a drug called Minatine on her during a surprise inspection at school and was expelled. She started fights with kids twice her size at her new school and got kicked out of that one too. Heath enrolled her in the military academy, and they had her locked down from the time she arrived until the time she went home.

Jack's accusations left Rehtaeh emotionally raw and she was sure the girl was right. Rehtaeh felt strained whenever she was near Jack, unsure of what the girl wanted or needed from her. Afraid that her violent side was influencing the impressionable teen Rehtaeh spent as little time as possible with the girl. Other than their prearranged training sessions she rarely saw Jack hoping that time and distance would help heal what was broken.

Carolyn was close to her due date when everything blew up once again. They were all visiting Imam's new place celebrating their house warming party. Rehtaeh brought a portrait she painted of them as a gift. She also painted portraits commemorating Hassan and Imam for the family. There were tears both happy and sad from the entire group. The gathering was beautiful, the large town house was decorated from top to bottom, there were copious amounts of rich food, music and laughter filled the house. It wasn't until much later that the adults realized that Jack and Suleiman had snuck out of the house.

Rehtaeh and Heath went looking for them. Rehtaeh tracked them by scent, it was faint, and she wished that Riddick was there. He would be able to find them faster. They tracked them up the hiking paths to the bluff that ran along the river at the edge of the city. There was a group of twelve large males beating on the two kids. One had a very badly bleeding Suleiman pushed up against a rock. "Where the fuck is he?"

"You really think Riddick would tell a couple of kids where he went?" Rehtaeh growled darkly as she neared them.

"When he wouldn't even tell his wife?" Heath added with a snarl of his own. 'This was getting fucking old,' Rehtaeh thought. "Fucking Mercs. You have no fucking boundaries. What do you think Rehtaeh, should we teach 'em a lesson?"

"Is that even a valid question, Heath?" Rehtaeh growled as she pulled the knives she had hidden under her shirt. Heath went after a pair of goons that had been kicking Jack's lifeless body while she ran at the man holding Suleiman. He reached for his gun and she kicked it out of his hand and plowed the hilt of her knife into the man's face. She hit him twice more before turning the blades in and slamming them into his ears. "Maybe next time you'll fucking listen when I say Riddick didn't tell me where he was headed."

The man dropped and two came at her with their guns drawn, she could tell they weren't going to kill her, they wanted her alive. Heath had taken his first two down by snapping their necks. For some reason her nephew had a thing for using his bare hands, she did understand to a point. There was something very animalistic about being able to take a life without the use of a weapon. She threw both of her knives at a pair of Mercs who were standing at the edge of the fray as she grabbed the guns that were always strapped in the holster in her jacket. Her first knife hit its intended target in the heart and the other planted deep in the Mercs throat. Heath grabbed his attacker's knife hand, slammed his elbow into the man's throat. Then he brought the man's arm down across his knee breaking the limb so he could use the man's own knife to gut him. She shot the two advancing on her in their heads and went to retrieve her knives before they even fell to the ground. She had taken five. Heath was working on his fourth and fifth, he was kicking the shit out of them. There were two left, both looking on in horror at the dead men that were surrounding them.

"Who's up next, is it you or you. We both know you are not leaving here alive, and you had sure as hell hope those kids are still alive. If they're not you are going to die twice." Rehtaeh stalked after them. They were about to run and there was no way in hell she was going to let that happen. Not after what they had done to Suleiman and Jack. Throwing her knife at the one who turned away, it hit him in the back of the thigh, hamstringing him. He fell to the ground screaming in agony. She rounded on the last and hit him square in the jaw with her right fist. He reeled in surprise. He had obviously not expected a woman to be able to hit so hard. Throwing a left right combo she was on the attack, always the aggressor always pushing the Merc back. His face was bloody, his nose was broken, and she saw red and just kept going.

By the time Heath hauled her off of the Mercs lifeless pulpy body she was surprised to see that all twelve men were laying dead at their feet. She didn't remember finishing off the man she had been hitting before killing the man she had thrown her knife at, but both men were dead by her hand. They called Tiller and she had men out to clean up the mess and take the kids directly to the hospital. Both of them were breathing, but barely.

"You know Rehtaeh, the Alliance is going to revoke your Immunity if you keep this up." Tiller told her as the medic chopper loaded the kids into the bay.

"Is there any way you can get these Mercs off my ass, Tiller? I mean, they attacked kids for crying out loud!" Rehtaeh retorted. "I mean, it's not like I go chasing after the fuckers, but every time I turn around they are on my tail."

"You know, that would be so much easier to do if you would just tell them where Riddick is." Tiller snapped at her. She was one of the few people who Rehtaeh trusted and now her instincts were telling her the opposite. What the hell happened? "We didn't find his remains on that planet and you two were positively identified by citizens at the transport station you stopped at. Who was your escort Rehtaeh? It was Riddick wasn't it? You were getting cozy with him, so stop denying it!"

"It doesn't matter who got me here. You said so yourself, as long as I made it here alive, it didn't matter who brought me. Riddick didn't fucking tell me where he was going!" Rehtaeh yelled back at her. The General backed off, Rehtaeh was telling the truth, it didn't matter who brought her to New Mecca. It only mattered that she was alive. Unfortunately the Alliance had little influence over the Mercenary Guild, so she could not use her influence to get them to leave her alone. All they could do was continue on cleaning up the mess.

Heath and Rehtaeh met everyone at the hospital. Tiller and her men did a complete investigation and found that eight of the men killed were actually some of the older and more notorious members of a gang. The younger kids in the gang reported that Jack was going around telling everyone that she knew Riddick and was going to go find him. The gang, looking for some quick cash sold the information to the Mercs. In the end the Mercs and the gang waited to get Jack alone and instead went after both teens.

Rehtaeh donated more of her blood to the hospital, even though she was already a weekly contributor at the local blood bank. Imam and Lajjun spent the first few hours in the hospital praying. Heath and Carolyn sat with them in the waiting room. Both families sat waiting for information from the Doctors. They heard from Jack's Doctor first. Jack was lucky she was not badly injured, other than a minor concussion and a couple of large lacerations on her chest and back, there was some minor internal bleeding which was easily repaired with their medications and Medibed. She would be able to go home within the next twenty four hours.

It was hours before they heard from Suleiman's Doctor. He was in very bad shape and had spent over six hours in surgery, removing the debris and dead tissues and repairing what they could. He suffered three stab wounds, lost a lot of blood and was bleeding on the brain. Even with their best Medibeds and medicines, they were not sure if he would recover proper brain function. Imam and Lajjun were inconsolable.

Rehtaeh felt so guilty. She left the waiting room and wandered the hospital for hours. When she got back to the waiting room, Jack was moved to a private room for observation and would be discharged the following day. After spending ten minutes with the sobbing teen her heartache was too much for Rehtaeh to take. She couldn't meet Jack's eye without falling into tears herself. She was trying to be strong for the girl. She couldn't bear the pain on the girls face for another moment so she left to check on Suleiman who they moved to intensive care, and was placed in a recovery pod. She was standing vigil by his bed. He looked peaceful and at rest, but the pod reminded her of a coffin and she felt it was completely at odds with the life force she felt within the boy.

Imam was coming back from the cafeteria with food for himself and Lajjun and Ziza when Jack went to visit Suleiman. She was standing over his pod, tears falling on her cheeks. "I am so sorry Suleiman, we shouldn't have left the party. We shouldn't have gone for a walk. I should have listened to you."

"You! This is your fault!" Imam slammed the food tray on a table. Everyone in the room jumped a mile high. Imam never raised his voice. He never got angry like this. "You are always pulling him into things that he doesn't want to do. You are always making him follow you around. This is your fault. The Doctors say he only has a five percent chance of survival."

Jack's tear stained face fell even further than it had before. She looked so completely broken. She looked from Imam to Suleiman and back to Imam. "I'm sorry." She sobbed pushing past him, as she ran down the hall. The back of her hospital gown flapping as she ran from the room, Rehtaeh was glad that they gave her pajama bottoms to go along with the ill fitting smock. Carolyn and Heath went after her, and Rehtaeh stayed behind. She looked down at the young man in the pod. She bent and whispered into the speaker vents. "You are a fighter Suleiman, you will win this. Win and come back stronger."

Then she turned at looked at Imam, there was a fire burning in her, "She is still twelve Imam, too young to be dating a seventeen year old, but she is. You allowed that. She loves him and you just told her that the one person who loves her unconditionally is going to die."

"She has no control." Imam started, his voice wavering with his grief.

She looked him in the eye and snarled at him, "I know you are angry, I know you want someone to blame. If that is what this is, then blame me. I can take it, but don't you dare blame Jack. I am the only monster here."

With that she spun on her heel and went after the others. Two days after she went home Jack heard rumors that Suleiman had died in the hospital. The rumors were not true, they were meant to hurt her, and they did what they were intended to do. Jack freaked out and was walking out of the house as Rehtaeh and Heath came home from some business in town.

"They are lying, Jack, he is still in a comatose state. They are keeping him like that until the swelling comes down!" Carolyn called out from the front door. "Jack, Come back! It's not true, damn it!"

Jack didn't look back and when Rehtaeh stepped in front of her, Jack plowed into her with her shoulder and kept walking. Carolyn stepped out of the house intending to follow, but she was carrying so heavily, that she could barely waddle the few feet to the top step. "Rehtaeh, go after her. It's not her fault! Tell her! Bring her back!"

Rehtaeh ran after Jack, grabbing her by the elbow to spin her around. Forcing the girl to look at her. "Carolyn is right, Please Jack, stay!"

"Is that you talking? Or her?" Jack snarled as she looked down at her, the girl had grown over the last nine months, she was now a couple of inches taller than Rehtaeh. "You don't even want me here, so go to hell Rehtaeh."

"What are you talking about Jack? Of course I want you here. Why wouldn't I?" Rehtaeh asked she looked at the girl in complete shock. When had she ever said she didn't want her around? She actually liked the kid!

"Don't I remind you too much of Riddick?" Jack snapped back at her, stepping forward, she was trying to make Rehtaeh back up. Rehtaeh was a person who stood her ground, and this confrontation was no different than any other. "You told Carolyn that everything I do reminds you of him. You sent him away so why would you want me?"

"I didn't send Riddick away. You do remind me of him, and I love him! What do you think that means about you, Jack?" Rehtaeh asked her feeling confused at where this conversation was going. "I didn't want him to go!"

"Then go after him!" Jack yelled at her.

"I can't do that!" Rehtaeh hollered back, it dawned on her that she was hoping that Rehtaeh would lead her to the convict. There was no way Rehtaeh would allow that to happen.

"Why not?" Jack goaded her, she was fishing for the location, and Rehtaeh could feel it. "If you love him so much, go after him."

"No, Jack, I can't go to him!" Rehtaeh yelled at the girl trying to get her to see reason, "I have Mercs constantly following me around. Do you want me to lead them right to him?"

"Kill the fucking Mercs!" Jack yelled at her.

"I have been! Haven't you noticed anything? Fifty-seven Jack, it has been nine months since he left and I have killed fifty-seven fucking Mercs. That number grows on a daily basis." Rehtaeh's heart was pounding in her chest.

"What about Toombs?" Jack taunted her. She had heard her complaining about the man countless times.

"I have told you a dozen times, I can't touch Toombs!" Rehtaeh yelled exasperated. "He works for the Alliance now, as long as he works for them, I can't touch him!"

"Bullshit!" Jack screamed at her. "You are such a coward, Rehtaeh. You say you love Riddick and yet you won't even go after him. You are constantly in the middle of Heath and Carolyn; you are such a home wrecker. I hate you!"

Rehtaeh just looked at the girl for a long moment. When had this all consuming hatred for her begin? Feeling utterly defeated she looked back at Carolyn and then turned to go into the Quonset. She needed to get away from the girl to cool off before she did something stupid. Like hit her.

"See!" Jack screamed at her, her voice was following her, but she couldn't feel her she was staying just outside her perimeter. "You are a fucking coward!"

Suddenly there was a searing pain in her spine and her legs gave out. Rehtaeh dropped to the ground screaming in pain. Carolyn screamed and ran for Rehtaeh. Heath came out of the Quonset at a run. She felt heard Carolyn's cry of shock and smelled the moisture as her water broke, the moisture dampening the sandy Helion soil. Heath turned and ran for his spouse, "What the hell have you done?"

"She deserved it!" Jack yelled, and then she started to cry. "She hates me! I can see it in her eyes."

"No, Jack, she doesn't! How many times has she saved your life, my life and Heath's?" Carolyn cried from several feet away. There was a blood smell. Carolyn needed a doctor, her labor brought on by the stress of the recent events. She needed to go to the hospital. Rehtaeh was so tired, she just wanted to close her eyes for a bit. "You repay her with murder? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Jack crawled closer. She turned Rehtaeh over picking up her head. The girl was looking into her eyes her tears falling on Rehtaeh's face. Looking up into Jack's eyes she saw the remorse. "I didn't mean to. It slipped from my hands. I swear, I didn't mean to. Do you think she will ever forgive me?"

"You can ask her if she lives." Heath said softly. Rehtaeh could hear Heath speaking into his com device, calling for emergency services.

"First Riddick, then Suleiman, now you and it's my fault. I am so stupid." Jack whispered faintly as the girl's arms pulled her close. Rehtaeh tried to tell the girl that she forgave her but her mind and body wouldn't work and she faded into darkness.