12. The Arrival

Gin and Riddick didn't talk much as the last day of travel to Dres passed. Gin seemed inclined to stay silent, and Riddick, finally having gotten her to talk the day before, was satisfied with that. At least he knew she wasn't mad at him.

She was just all business, but he'd expected that.

"There it is," she said, pointing out the yellowish-red planet of Dres. A dust storm could be seen swirling across a large section in the southern half of the planet.

Riddick went to the main control planet and punched in the coordinates for the landing site outside of the camp they'd be landing at. "You wanna take it in?" he questioned her.

Gin nodded. They shot through the atmosphere, the heat causing red flames to surround the ship. Gin watched the dials in front of her, hit the main thrusters after a fast drop and gently put the small ship down.

A satisfied smile crossed her lips at the easy landing. She glanced up at Riddick. "Three point landing."

------

Jack looked up from her work and saw a small ship enter the atmosphere. It took an amazing dive towards the ground and then swooped up gracefully. She watched it in interest as it rocketed across the sky and then headed in the direction of the landing pad. She wondered who it could be.

About fifteen minutes passed before any news got back to her. "Strangers," she heard someone mumble to another miner.

"Big guy..." someone else continued.

"Did you see the pretty blonde? Jimmy tried to make a pass at her and ended up on his ass."

"Big guy do it?"

"Nope. The pretty blonde. Dropped him and flashed a pair of fangs. Trysian, no doubt."

At this, Jack's ears pricked up. Trysian? Like Gin? It suddenly made sense. A Trysian and a big guy. It had to be Gin and Riddick.

Jack tipped back her head and stared up at the sky, a small smile ticking at the corner of her mouth. Not wanting to get her hopes up, she placed her pick on the ground and jogged to the landing pad.

When she got there she saw a small prowler and figured it was the one she's seen streaking across the sky earlier. She walked up to the man that was charging up the power cells. "Did you see the man and woman that got off this ship?" she him, her voice curious but calm. She wondered when the prospect of seeing Riddick again had gone from being her biggest dream to being a pleasant prospect.

The man lifted his brows at her. "Why do you wanna know?" he questioned suspiciously.

"I think I might know them," she said with a small shrug.

The man studied her dubiously for a few moments and then pointed towards the supply store. "They went in there," he finally said.

"Thanks," Jack said then jogged toward the storefront.

The store's interior was cool and dark, and Jack pushed her tinted goggles back on her head and stalked quietly into the air conditioned depths. She heard a low, deep and familiar voice coming from the back where they kept food.

She stood on tiptoe to see over the shelves and was just able to make out a dark shaved head.

Cautiously, she started to approach the back of the store, but stopped short when she got close enough to make out the words of a conversation.

"What are you gonna do if she sees you?" a woman's voice asked.

Jack crept closer.

"I don't know." Riddick's voice. It sent a pang through Jack's chest, something akin to longing but mixed up in a feeling of anger. "It's not as if she can come with us when we leave."

Jack froze. Were they talking about her?

"I don't suppose she could. There's no room on the prowler in any case. If we had my old ship it would be fine, but those bastards that ripped me up took it. Probably sold it for scrap, too." Jack realized that it must be Gin talking to Riddick.

Jack crept even closer to the voices.

"She isn't safe around me until you get my name changed, Gin. When Riddick is dead, maybe I can take her. But I don't know how to take care of a kid. She doesn't have a real place in my life, no matter how much she might want it." Jack felt any sense of happiness she might have felt at Riddick's return deflating rapidly.

Scraping together her courage and her composure, Jack rounded the corner. Riddick's broad back was to her but Gin spotted her over his broad shoulder.

"Jack," she murmured as her eyes settled on the young girl.

Jack stepped forward, forcing a smile onto lips that felt suddenly stiff and dry. "Uh, hey, G- Reese. How are you?"

Gin pushed around Riddick and hugged Jack. "I'm good. And it's good to see a familiar face after the past coupla months I've been through." Jack stood stiffly in Gin's embrace, her raising to barely touch the older woman's back.

Riddick was watching them now, his eyes hidden behind his dark goggles. His face was expressionless, and when Gin pulled away from Jack he didn't say anything.

Jack ignored the slightly hurt and confused expression on Gin's face and looked Riddick in the eye. Uncertainty and a dull ache vied for attention in her mind as he just stood there watching her. "Hi, Riddick," she murmured finally, lowering her eyelids and tipping her chin up slightly, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"Jack," he acknowledged.

Jack kept her face stoic as they regarded each other, the man and the girl that idolized him.

Used to idolize him, she reminded herself and realizing it was true. There were still feelings there, but nothing like what they'd been before. The simple joy and elation she'd once felt in his presence was gone, replaced by something darker and less trusting. Wary, she thought. I don't trust him not to stomp on me. Her lids dropped a bit more and her jaw clenched. And I don't have a crush on him anymore.

Riddick stepped forward and held out his hand to Jack. She stared at it for a moment then quirked a small smile at him. "What, Riddick? Just meeting me for the first time?"

Riddick couldn't quite stop the frown that tilted the corners of his lips downwards and Jack gripped her familiar sarcasm with an iron grasp. There was a roaring in her ears as she thought about Riddick and Gin leaving her behind again. Of being left on this dust bowl planet to let the sand slip into her mouth and slowly grind away her teeth for yet another day. Another week. Another slow, painful year. Panic warred with anger, but Jack felt maybe she'd grown up a little as she smirked at Riddick until he let his hand fall back to his side.

------

Riddick clenched his jaw tightly as he saw the corner of Jack's mouth quirk into a cynical smirk. Yes, her head was shaved, and there was a pair of welding goggles resting on top of her head, but he wondered if that meant what it used to. A number of the people he'd seen as him and Gin entered the store after leaving his ship had been wearing goggles of one kind or another. He'd seen two other women with shaved heads.

The expressive green eyes Riddick remembered so well were half closed and filled with a sort of wary cynicism that looked out of place in Jack's young face. Her eyes looked old and tired.

"You know a place we can bed down in, Jack?" Gin asked the girl, obviously trying to break the tension quickly filling the air between Jack and Riddick.

Jack pulled her goggles over her green eyes, effectively hiding them from view, before stepping to Gin's side. "Do I call you Reese?" she asked Gin, leading them outside.

"Yeah," Gin answered. "As far as anyone else knows, Gin Wolf died in a transport crash after she escaped Slam."

Nodding at that, Jack began to lead them to the stand of shacks and make-shift cabins that dotted the camp. These ones were a lot more stable than the ones where Riddick had been holed up.

"You can have this one. No one has lived here for ages and I don't reckon they'll be comin' back anytime soon." She looked quizzically at them. "Looks like you two are getting along," she commented finally.

"You could say that," Gin answered, and Jack noted the cautious tone of voice.

Jack smirked again. "Don't worry about protecting my vulnerable feelings, Gin." She tipped her gaze to Riddick. "Glad you found her, Riddick. Glad you came back."

Riddick's face was unreadable as always, and Jack bit back the urge to scream LIAR! in his face when he smiled slightly and answered, "Yeah, me too, kid."

Jack watched him a moment longer, her chin tilted up and her face expressionless. She nodded then and turned on her heal, disappearing into the multitude of small miners shacks.

------

Gin turned on Riddick. "Well, that went well, didn't it?" she bit out.

"At least you're talking to me again."

"Neither of us seems to be talkative lately. I usually ain't, and neither are you."

He nodded. "Doesn't look like Jack's a big talker anymore, either."

Gin frowned. "What happened to her?" she asked, her voice troubled.

Riddick shrugged, pushing the nagging feeling he had that whatever was wrong with Jack had something to do with himself and headed into the adjoining room and found a double wide cot. "Yes," he murmured, pleased.

Gin followed close behind. "Oh, God. I actually get to sleep on my own half for once."

He glanced at her sharply. "What's wrong with me?"

She lifted her brows. "Nothin'. But the threat of suddenly rolling off you or you rolling over was an unpleasant one, hon."

"I can see that," he answered quietly.

Gin flopped down on the cot and rolled toward the wall. Riddick stretched beside her slowly. They let out a long sigh together.

"Oh, yeah," Gin breathed.

He made a sound of total agreement

"What did the shop keeper say?" Riddick asked Gin, not looking at her.

He heard her shift slightly before she answered. "He was Trysian," she stated.

"So was the guy back at the dust hole we came from."

Gin rolled over and looked at him, propping her head in her hand. "He was?"

"I forgot you didn't see him," Riddick said.

She shrugged. "Oh, well. Prob'ly didn't know him anyhow. In any case, the keeper said Ven had mentioned going home. Only thing is, she might not be there at all, and what home? Trys or Crip?" She shook her head. "I only wish I knew how she thinks now."

"We'll try Crip first. Leave tomorrow. Both of us are beat and we need a bigger ship. Think there are any Rangers 'round here?" Riddick asked.

She nodded again. "For security, sure."

"Then tonight, me and you go hunting."