They met the rest of the crew as they continued their walk through the halls after Jack tried to salvage some of her underwear, which was nothing. Whenever they passed by one of the crew, Riddick would stop them and introduce them to Jack. She smiled pleasantly and tried really hard to remember all their names. Riddick didn't seem to have any problems with remembering their names. In fact, he remembered details about them; not that it came to a surprise to her. He seemed to remember everything.
Jack held onto Riddick's hand while he talked to Taylor, who they had run into again. Her eyes drooped closed as the tiredness of her body begged for attention. She half listened to the men as they talked even though she probably should have been more attentive. Right now it didn't matter to her. She wanted to sleep, there was too much for her to take in on top of everything else she had to deal with.
Riddick could see out of the corner of his eye that Jack had closed hers. He moved his hand from hers and put his arm around her shoulders.
"Looks liked someone needs some sleep," Taylor said. Jack leaned into Riddick and smiled, opening her eyes just a little. "I won't keep you guys," he continued, giving Riddick a friendly slap on the shoulder.
"I'll be by tomorrow morning after I see her off to work," Riddick said pulling Jack even closer.
"Sounds good. I'll see ya then," Taylor finished as he turned and left them. Riddick looked down at Jack, his brow creasing in thought.
"You want me to carry you?" he asked her. Jack pulled away from him and tilted her head slightly.
"Sure. How 'bout a piggy-back?" Riddick turned around and glanced over his shoulder.
"Hop on." Jack put her hands on his shoulders and jumped up onto his back, squeezing his waist with her thighs. Riddick didn't even stumble, didn't even move; he is so physically solid that Jack's weight was nothing to him. If she didn't have her arms wrapped around him and wasn't breathing down his neck, he might not even notice she was there.
Her warm hands on his chest and her soft warm body pressing into his back made him very aware of her. He put his hands behind her knees and began walking to the ramp, his mind wandering back to her and the differences he's seen in her. She was so energetic the first time he came back, flipping him over her shoulder and pinning him to the ground. He remembered vividly the way her hard muscles pressed into him while he was laying face first on the floor and the strong scent of adrenaline that filled his nose when she leaned in close to whisper in his ear. He was even aware of the exact moment when she realized who she was lying on top of. The adrenaline he could smell that was running hot and thick through his senses became cold and that's when he turned the tables on her.
But now she looked and acted so different. She was tired and the sparkle in her eyes seemed to have faded a bit, yet she insisted she was okay and if she didn't know what was wrong there's no way Riddick would be able to figure it out. He only hoped that she knew he would be there for her whenever she needed him.
The walk back to the apartment was quiet as Jack dozed on Riddick's shoulder. Her body became slack as sleep took over but she kept a pretty good hold of him.
Riddick managed to open the door without having to put her down and headed back to the bedroom. He loosened his grip on her legs and let her slide down his body. As soon as she felt herself slipping, Jack grabbed him tighter and woke with a start.
"It's okay Jack. I got ya," Riddick said reassuringly. Jack looked around the room until she figured out where she was.
"We're home already?" she asked through a yawn. Once her feet touched solid ground she sat down on the bed with a sigh.
"Yea, we're home."
"I don't even remember the walk here," she said, covering her mouth as another yawn hit her.
"I'm gonna take the contacts out. Do you need anything?"
"No, I'm good," she answered, closing her eyes again.
When Riddick came back Jack was sound asleep, curled up on the bed her hair having fell over her face. Riddick crouched down beside her and brushed the hair back, his fingers lingering on her throat, feeling her pulse thumping slow and steady. He moved down to the end of the bed and removed her shoes, tossing them carelessly to the floor. Putting a hand on her hip, Riddick rolled her onto her back so he could get her pants off, which came without any protesting from her except for a small mewling sound.
As soon as her pants were off, Jack brought her knees back up to her chest and shivered slightly. Riddick stood up and stripped out of his clothes and climbed in next to her. Sensing a warm body, Jack rolled over and snuggled up to his chest, wrapping an arm around his waist.
After getting comfortable and a few minutes of stroking Jack's back and running his hands through her hair, Riddick fell asleep.
He was the first to wake to the darkness of the room, the night still hovering outside the window but he knew it was close to the time Jack would be getting up. He stretched his body out to chase away the stiffness in his muscles and reached over to turn off her alarm. He didn't want Jack to wake to that awful buzzing sound; he wanted her to wake up to him.
Jack had her back to him still sound asleep. He moved closer to her and lightly ran his lips over her neck and up to her ear. She didn't move. Riddick increased the pressure and trailed little kisses down to her shoulder, moving her shirt down so he could get to her skin. She stirred this time, wiggling beneath the pressure of his lips. A smile spread over her face as she rolled onto her back. Riddick continued to kiss her wherever he could reach while she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Good morning," she purred. She relaxed into him, running her hands over his smooth back and shoulders. His only response came as a growl. "I could get used to waking up like this every morning." Riddick pulled back and looked her in the eyes. The shimmer from his shine job made her shiver in surprise and excitement. She placed her hand on his cheek in a gentle caring gesture. "I really could."
Riddick didn't say anything as he pulled her into a hug, closing his eyes as the feel of her consumed him. They were quiet as they held each other, wanting to stay like this just a little longer, but time was ticking away and Jack really needed to get up.
Riddick didn't protest when she pulled out of his embrace even though his body was.
"Let me make you breakfast," he said as Jack looked down at what she was wearing. She looked at the floor around her seeing her clothes lying around and shook her head in amusement.
"No breakfast for me," she said as she gathered up her things. "It'll make me sick." Riddick sat up in bed and looked her over.
"What's wrong, Jack?" he asked. The worry in his voice made Jack stop what she was doing and look over at him. Concern was etched on his face and it started to make her worry. What was wrong with her? The way she was feeling couldn't be right but she pushed the fear from her mind before it took over her rational thought.
"Nothing's wrong," she assured him. "Just a little stress." She turned away from his stare and began looking around the room for something that wasn't there just to avoid his eyes. Riddick didn't look convinced and Jack felt the weight of guilt resting on her shoulders but she couldn't figure out where the guilt was coming from. "Uh, I gotta take a shower," she said quickly, feeling his eyes on her as she left the room.
Riddick sighed and fell back on the bed, putting his hands behind his head. After they were well into their first run he was going to find out what was wrong.
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Riddick walked Jack to work that morning; something he's never done before, and when they got there Riddick pulled her into a deep passionate kiss, not bothered in the least that they had an audience. As soon as they were through and Riddick left, Jack was bombarded with questions and comments from her co-workers about the tall dark and handsome mystery man she was with and why nobody has ever heard anything about him before. Jack carefully answered their questions without revealing who he really was because even with a complete makeover of his file, didn't mean people would suddenly forget about him.
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Riddick briefly checked on his crew and the ship before heading back to the apartment to pack everything up. His stuff was easy considering most, if not all of it was still on the ship. Jack's things took a little longer. She had books, videos, little trinkets she'd been collecting over the years, and a lot more clothes than he had.
As he was taking the clothes out of the drawers something slipped out between the folds and fell to the floor. Riddick put the clothes on the bed and crouched down to pick up two pieces of paper. He turned one over to find that it was the letter her had written to her a long time ago. The memory brought a smile to his face. The other was a picture of him while he was sleeping with the sheet barely covering his nude body. He was on his back; head turned slightly with one arm down at his side and his other hand lying flat on his chest. It was strange to see himself like this; actually looking peaceful. He never thought he would ever look like that.
Riddick bit at his lower lip trying to think of when Jack could've taken this without waking him up. She could hardly move around the apartment without him knowing. The question continued to dance around in his head as he put the photo and the letter into his pocket and went on with the packing.
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Jack burst through the doors of the hospital and stepped into the golden light of the sun as it settled down beyond the hills into slumber. She was finally finished and she aced test week, now fully certified and she couldn't wait to tell Riddick and start a whole knew adventure with him.
This time she did run home and was gasping for breath as she stumbled though
the door and into an empty apartment.
Panic rose quickly in her gut as two thoughts came to mind. One, they were robbed, or two, Riddick had
packed up and left. She immediately
felt guilty for ever thinking that Riddick would just leave her. Since she's known him, he's never lied to
her or made her doubt him in any way.
She wanted to beat herself senseless until that thought never came back
again.
Taking a cleansing breath, Jack walked through the apartment and looked in every empty room; memories came flooding back to her about the time she's spent here and all the things she's learned and experienced. The wonderful things Riddick showed her when he made love to her the first time and the human side of him she got to see. How she felt and all that she knew came from this place and it would forever be held in her mind.
Jack stood in the empty silence of Riddick's room and breathed in the last remnants of his scent, closing her eyes as the emotions flashed bright colors behind her closed lids. So caught up in the moment, in her feelings and thoughts, Jack wasn't aware that she was no longer alone. Yet when a hand touched down on her shoulder she didn't jump, wasn't scared…she knew who it was.
Without opening her eyes, Jack turned around and molded herself to the form standing behind her. She knew she was right when she felt the familiar contours of muscle covering his chest and stomach; the way she fit into the crook of his neck, and the strong safe arms that wrapped around her shoulders.
"So?" Riddick asked slowly just above a whisper. Jack pulled enough away to look up at him and smiled.
"Passed," she simply stated, grinning like she's never grinned before. Riddick pulled her to his lips and kissed her, tasted her, feeling elation filling him as well as her. Her hard work had paid off and now there was nothing out there that could keep them apart. Or was fate really waiting in the shadows to put another twist in their lives?
