Part III
Sil sat up on the bed and wiped away
tears as she saw Jack ushered back into the cell. She sniffled and ran to her
side wrapping her arms about Jack. Jack did her best not to wince as she
returned Sil's hug.
"I'm sorry they hurt you Miss Jack.
I'll go with them next time… I don't want you to get hurt again."
"Heh.," Jack grinned lightly down to
her before moving over to the cot. Once Jack was seated Sil sat on the floor
beside her. Jack reached out an brushed hair and tears off of Sil's cheek.
"Don't worry about it kid. They ain't gonna be coming back to get you for
anymore tests."
Sil blinked up to Jack shocked.
Ren's eyes peered to them from the barred window between their cells. "How'd ya
manage that?"
Jack glanced to the window and smirked
a bit. "I got my ways. I'm good at making trades."
Ren was confused for a moment. "You
didn't…."
"Didn't what?," a puzzled Sil looked
between the two.
Jack looked back to Sil and smiled
at her. "They won't be coming to get you anymore, Sil. From now on they'll be
coming to get me."
Sil's faint yellow eyes widened a
bit as new tears threatened to fall. No one had been as nice to her as Jack
was… and now she was gonna go through all the pain she had. "No!," she threw her arms around Jack's waist
and hugged her tightly. Tighter than was comfortable for Jack as she winced.
Jack tried to pry the girls arms off but found she wasn't able to, which
surprised her. Seemed Sil was stronger than she looked.
Jack sighed a bit and stroked Sil's
hair. "Shhh… its okay kiddo. I can handle anything they throw at me. Don't
worry I'll be okay."
Sil sniffled and hugged Jack
tighter. She loosened her grip though when she felt Jack flinch. "I… it hurts
real bad. It a-always made me wish I would just die."
Jack peered down sadly at her.
"Hey," her voice was soft and caring, "it'll be okay I promise.," she tilted
Sil's head up and slowly wiped her tears away. Jack stood up slowly by the cot.
"Into bed with you."
Sil reluctantly climbed up into the
cot. Jack knelt on the floor by her and stroked the hair off Sil's forehead. A
soft sweet sound filled the air. "Hush little baby don't say a word, Mama's
gonna buy you a mocking bird. And if that mocking bird don't sing, Mama's gonna
buy you a diamond ring. And if that diamond ring don't shine…" the tune drifted
off slowly.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
"You don't know what you're getting
into Jack.," Ren kept her tones hushed so she wouldn't wake Sil or Ash.
Jack shook her head as she leaned
against the wall. "I had to do something. I wasn't going to stand by and watch
them kill her piece by piece."
"You're crazy you know that, Reed?"
Jack snickered. "If you only knew
the company I unwillingly parted with when I was caught you'd probably really
believe that."
Ren laughed at her. "Would I? Why do
you say that?"
A little glint flickered in Jack's
eyes as she let memories rise to the surface for a moment. Jack's grin was a
tad on the dark side. She shook her head then to clear her mind. "Never mind. I
have an appointment later to see the Psychotherapist. Maybe I should play mind
games, eh?"
Ren just shook her head at Jack.
"You sure are a strange one. The Psychotherapist is a pretty nice guy… Least he
was to Ash and Sil. I thought he was a total asshole."
"Maybe he realized that they were
innocent."
"Ha! Now *that* would be something."
Jack just grinned at her as she
heard footsteps headed their way. "Looks like it's time for me to go."
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Jack sat silently in the comfy
chair, letting her hand shield her eyes from the light. A thick layer of glass
separated her room from the other one in front of it. Nothing much was in that
room either. There was a chair across from hers, a desk and what looked like a
diploma on the wall. She leaned back in the chair to wait for the 'shrink',
wondering what he'd be like.
"Prisioner 7832Z594K." The man
closed the door behind him as he stared down at her file, not bothering to look
up. He moved to the chair slowly and sat down in it. She blinked a bit as she
stared at the man before her, tall, lean, black hair, green eyes, glasses.
Couldn't be him could it? The man pushed his glasses up with his thumb. Jack
couldn't help but grin now. How ironic!
"So how you doin' Mel?"
The man had a puzzled look on his
face. He looked up slowly from the file and seemed to pale. "Jackie?"
She smirked. "I ain't been called
that in years."
"How did you… Why… What are you
doing in there?!" Mel had a worried look on his face.
"Long story, Mel. Sure ya wanna hear
it?" She leaned back into the chair folding her hands in her lap.
Mel nodded to her closing the file
and putting it beside him in the chair. Poor Mel. He was always the big
brother I never had. What's he gonna think about me now?
"Well I ran away from home when I
was sixteen. Jumping from rock to rock looking for my dad. I managed to contact
him once after I'd been looking for a year. He sent some Creds and I bought a
ticket on the Hunter-Gratzner. On New Mecca all I had to do was catch a
transport and I was home free.," she paused a moment to observe him. He knew
about her running away which didn't surprise her since he used to babysit her
and take her places, even though he was a good seven years older than her.
She continued, "But we crashed on
this desert planet halfway through the trip. Eleven of us made it out of the
crash alive but just three of us left the planet."
Mel broke in, "What happened to the
other eight? Who were the other two survivors, Jackie?"
"The ones that didn't make it were
killed. Imam, Riddick and me were all that got away."
"Riddick?!," he jumped up from his
chair. "But a Merc said he died in the crash and collected on him." Mel looked
confused.
Jack grinned to him and laughed. "A
John Fry right?"
"Yeah…," he looked at her
skeptically.
She snickered and shook her head.
"An alias he came up with after we reached New Mecca. He left Imam and me there
after he collected the reward."
He ran a hand through his short
black hair. "Did he kill all the others? Did he hurt you in anyway?"
Jack laughed a bit at his concern
now. If he only knew. "No, he didn't kill them. Fuckin' aliens did. They
were a bunch of nasty motherfuckers. And no he didn't hurt me. He saved my
life. He became my Savior."
Mel frowned deeply at the news. She
looked up to Riddick? That wasn't good… not good at all. Maybe it's the
drawback of the whole tramatic event on her causing her to idolize Riddick.
"Jackie the man's a murderer. He's dangerous an-"
She cut him off, narrowing her eyes
at him. "Look at the file again Mel. I've killed a few people myself, the most
recent being a guard here. Riddick taught me how to survive, how to be strong.
He believed in me… he knows who I am!"
"Jesus, Jackie, listen to yourself!
You're idolizing him! … You're trying to be like him aren't you?," he frowned
deeply, he looked hurt.
She stood up slowly, walking to the
glass barrier that separated them. "I'm not trying to be like him. I'm just me.
I'll do what it takes to survive. If you don't like it," she pointed to him,
her tone raising, "then fuck you! I'm not the same weakling I was when you knew
me. I don't need you to be strong for me Mel. I'm fine on my own."
He sighed and lowered his head
shaking it. "Jackie…"
"Stop calling me that. I'm not
Jackie anymore."
"The who are you?," he looked up to
her with sad eyes as he sat back down.
"Jack… I'm Jack to everyone except
one person. To him I'm Jacklyn."
"And who is that?"
"My lover…" she stated simply,
tracing her finger over the 'R' shaped scar under her clothes.
He looked shocked and appalled as
well as sad. He'd seen her trace the letter on her side. He wasn't quite sure
what it meant so he pushed it away. He knew she wasn't who she used to be
anymore. He might as well get on with the tests. "Look at the wall to your
left. Tell me what you see."
She glanced to the wall as the first
inkblot image appeared there. "Blood……, one of those fuckin' aliens……, someone
holding a shiv……," she grinned at the fourth one, "the first person I killed
asshole shoulda known better……, the pilot that raped me……, people covered in
blood…… a woman being ripped in half…… a human skull……, another alien……, a
corpse."
Mel nodded silently. "We'll have
another appointment tomorrow and that will conclude our required sessions
together. If you ever feel the need to talk to someone, or want to talk to
someone I'll be here."
