Chapter 17 - Betrayal of Trust
Riddick woke immediately when he heard the comm-unit buzzing from the small desk in his cabin. He'd allowed himself a little downtime, indulged in something he didn't normally allow himself except in the deep darkness of space. It took a moment to extract himself from the bunk without waking Jack, but he wanted to let her sleep. Better that she sleep, that would buy him some time to think before she woke up. Grabbing his boxers out of the pile on the floor, he sat down in the chair and toggled on the switch. He wasn't really worried about who it was, it had to be someone from the Dock Master's office, mercs and hunters didn't usually call ahead. "Persephone, Capt. Torrence here."
"Capt. Torrence," the Dock Master's deep bass voice, deeper even than Riddick's, came over the small speaker. "I have some good news. It seems that the fuel shipment will be arriving late tonight, we should have you underway in the morning."
A mix of emotions that Riddick didn't expect worked through him and he realized that some part of his mind had expected to have another day with Jack before he had to leave. Well, it was probably better that he leave early, easier to avoid a scene with her. He found himself looking back to the bed where she lay, still curled on her side where he'd left her.
"Capt. Torrence?" The Dock Master's voice broke through his thoughts.
He turned away from her sleeping form. "Yeah. Thanks. What do I need to do to get underway?"
"If you want, you can come down to the office now and fill out the necessary paperwork and pre-pay, then as soon as the shipment arrives, you will be one of our first priorities." In other words, he could buy his place in line.
"Ok, sure. I'll be there in a few." Without waiting for the man to say anything else, he toggled off the switch. Moving quietly through the room, he pulled out a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt and quickly dressed, making sure to retrieve his colored contacts from the bathroom. If he was lucky he could get there and back before Jack even knew he was gone, thereby avoiding any awkward questions. He knew he smelled like sex and her, but he didn't care. Most of the time after he left a woman, the first thing he did was shower, but he didn't mind smelling like Jack. Leaving the light burning so she wouldn't awaken in a strange place to total darkness, he closed the door to the cabin behind him.
Jack had awakened as soon as she felt him move. She started to protest but she realized the buzzing she heard was the comm-unit. Curiosity getting the better of her, she lay perfectly still, trying to keep her breathing even and steady as she listened. *He's leaving tomorrow morning? So soon?* A terrible thought worked its way into her mind as she wondered if he would tell her. Since he was obviously trying to make as little noise as possible to keep from waking her, she continued to feign sleep. When he was gone, she sat up on the edge of the bunk, combing a hand through her tangled hair. She needed a plan, something to show him how useful she could be. Something that would make him want to keep her around.
Remembering that he had been wearing coveralls, she wondered what he'd been working on. If she could fix whatever it was before he got back, that would prove that she was useful, right? Sliding off the bed, conscious of the pleasant aches that had settled into her bones, she pulled her underwear out of the pile of clothes laying on the floor and tugged them on along with her t-shirt and the coveralls Riddick had been wearing. She had to roll the sleeves and legs up and it was about four sizes too big for her, but she wasn't trying to enter the Miss Universe contest. Tugging on her boots, she left the cabin and went back to the flight deck to recover her backpack.
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Riddick had been mistaken if he thought he was going to get back to the Persephone anytime soon. It seemed like this was taking longer than the original in-processing did. Glancing down at his watch, he breathed heavily through his nose. He'd been standing in the line for half an hour. How long could he expect Jack to sleep? Lifting up the darkly tinted glasses, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. How much fucking longer was this going to take?
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It didn't take long to find what Riddick had been working on. The guts of the grav unit were still strewn across the floor of the repair access crawlspace. Jack smiled, gravs were easy fixes, and luckily Riddick was smart enough to lay the pieces out in the order in which they'd been removed. Made her job much easier. A few adjustments and she was confident that the unit was back up to standard. Now what was she going to do until Riddick got back? A mischievous smile touched her lips, she'd wanted a chance to get down here and really see what was what in the old ship, well, this was her chance. Shining her worktorch around, she began checking the old girl out.
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When Carson heard that the fuel shipment was coming in early, he knew this would be his last chance to confirm Riddick's identity. A friend of his was one of the dockhands, so he spent the afternoon on the docks under the pretense of visiting him, he knew that sooner or later the man would have to come out and get his paperwork started, it was just a waiting game now. Finally, he emerged and Carson knew he had him. No hat, no jacket, no glasses until the glare of the dock lights forced him to put them on. There wasn't a question in his mind anymore. "Gotcha." It only took one call to get the ball rolling.
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By the time Riddick made it back to the ship, he was fairly pissed. It had taken all his will power not to strangle the life out of the clerk as she calmly, and extremely slowly, processed the paperwork that would get his ship refueled. Now, an hour after he'd left, he let himself back into the Persephone and went to find Jack. He'd had plenty of time to get those walls firmly back in place, and he had every intention of getting her the hell off this ship so he could leave as soon as they gave him clearance.
He opened the door to his cabin to find it empty. Jack's jeans and bra were still laying on the floor, but her panties and t-shirt and his coveralls were gone from the pile. *Why the hell would she go off with my coveralls?* he wondered, but even as he asked the question, he knew. She was an engineer, where else would she go on a new ship but exploring?
Riddick didn't really have to look very hard to find Jack, she was exactly where he'd expected her to be. Plus, she'd turned on every light between the cabin and the RAC. Crouching down on the floor next to the access panel, he watched as the light from a worktorch bobbed around in the near darkness and waited.
Jack had checked every system and found they were pretty well taken care of. Riddick knew his ship and took care of her. That was a good thing. Lots of people left ship's maintenance up to station or planetside repair crews, and they usually did a good job but it wasn't like taking care of your own. Content that everything was in tiptop shape, she started back out of the access crawlspace. Flicking off her worktorch as she neared the access panel, she stood up, her head coming just barely above the edge of the floor and came face to face with Riddick's boots. *Busted again,* she thought with a smile, hoping that this one ended as well as the other had. Looking up at him, her smile faded as she saw the look on his face. He was not a happy camper. "Hi," she managed weakly.
"You find anything interesting?" He really wasn't mad at Jack, but she was the closest one there was to take it out on. Grabbing her under her arms as she started to climb out of the access panel, he lifted her effortlessly onto the decking beside him, kicking the panel grid back into place. "What were you doing down there anyway?"
Jack squared her shoulders and crossed her arms over her chest. "I fixed your grav unit, so you're welcome."
Riddick raised an eyebrow at her, the anger felt good, better than the uncomfortable feelings he'd been having earlier, more familiar. "I could have fixed it myself."
Jack realized where this was going and for once took Imam's advice. She let her anger slip away as quickly as it had surfaced. Instead, she smiled at him, a wide, inviting smile. "Yes, I saw from the other systems that you keep everything running just fine, but I fixed it a lot faster than you could have." Picking up where they'd left off earlier, she stepped closer to him, sliding her hands over his stomach and resting them on his hips, slightly miffed that he didn't offer to lift his hands to touch her but she didn't let her smile falter. "I figured this way you'd see just how invaluable I am and this way we can spend more time together."
He didn't like that she was starting to get to him. He couldn't let her do that. Reminding himself again that he was leaving the station without her in the morning, he kept his face an unreadable mask. "Did you?" His voice was soft, cold.
Her smile did falter this time. He was pushing her away. *Damn him!* Was he just going to pretend that nothing had happened? But then a horrible thought ran through her mind, what if he just saw her as another convenient lay? Uncertain now, she frowned up at him. "Yeah. I did. I thought we were having fun." She wanted to say 'I thought I meant something to you,' but she didn't want the answer to that right at this moment.
Riddick shrugged. "Yeah. We did," past tense, "but I've got some other stuff I need to do right now." Truthfully, he'd like nothing better than to strip off those coveralls and take her right there on the floor of the cargo bay. The image of doing just that had him hardening painfully, but luckily she was looking at his face instead of his pants.
"Got stuff to do before you leave?" It was a test of sorts, to see if he would tell her that he'd be leaving a day early. She silently begged him to tell her.
"Yeah, lots of stuff to do, not much time." Ok, well it wasn't entirely a lie, and he wasn't obligated to check his schedule with her. *Don't give me that look, Jack,* he thought, *I know I'm an asshole.*
He wasn't going to tell her. He really wasn't going to tell her. She felt so disappointed in him that it actually caused her heart to ache so she crossed her arms over her chest, hoping to relieve some of the pain. *One last chance to tell me, Riddick,* she thought. "Well, maybe we can get together tomorrow night after I get off work." Her voice sounded flat.
He was glad he didn't have to actually look at her, the darkly tinted glasses hiding his eyes. "Yeah. Maybe." He hated lying to her, no matter how necessary it might be. He didn't normally see the use of lying in general, he figured if people didn't like the truth fuck 'em.
Jack couldn't believe it, she never would have believed he'd actually lie directly to her face. Sure he was a killer, but he'd never been one to mince words, never seemed to feel the need to lie. But that's exactly what he was doing now, just to get rid of her. She had trusted him with everything and this was what he gave her in return, a betrayal of that trust. Tossing her heavy braid back over her shoulder, she took a step away from him feeling hurt and betrayed and hoping neither was showing on her face. "Ok, then. I'll just go get my stuff and let you get to," she waved her hand to indicate the ship, "whatever." She turned away and promised herself she wouldn't look back. She didn't.
Watching her walk away was one of the hardest things he could remember having to do, a lot harder than it should have been, but he knew it was for the best. "Bye, Jack," he said quietly, knowing she couldn't hear him and knowing it was the last time he'd ever see her.
Riddick woke immediately when he heard the comm-unit buzzing from the small desk in his cabin. He'd allowed himself a little downtime, indulged in something he didn't normally allow himself except in the deep darkness of space. It took a moment to extract himself from the bunk without waking Jack, but he wanted to let her sleep. Better that she sleep, that would buy him some time to think before she woke up. Grabbing his boxers out of the pile on the floor, he sat down in the chair and toggled on the switch. He wasn't really worried about who it was, it had to be someone from the Dock Master's office, mercs and hunters didn't usually call ahead. "Persephone, Capt. Torrence here."
"Capt. Torrence," the Dock Master's deep bass voice, deeper even than Riddick's, came over the small speaker. "I have some good news. It seems that the fuel shipment will be arriving late tonight, we should have you underway in the morning."
A mix of emotions that Riddick didn't expect worked through him and he realized that some part of his mind had expected to have another day with Jack before he had to leave. Well, it was probably better that he leave early, easier to avoid a scene with her. He found himself looking back to the bed where she lay, still curled on her side where he'd left her.
"Capt. Torrence?" The Dock Master's voice broke through his thoughts.
He turned away from her sleeping form. "Yeah. Thanks. What do I need to do to get underway?"
"If you want, you can come down to the office now and fill out the necessary paperwork and pre-pay, then as soon as the shipment arrives, you will be one of our first priorities." In other words, he could buy his place in line.
"Ok, sure. I'll be there in a few." Without waiting for the man to say anything else, he toggled off the switch. Moving quietly through the room, he pulled out a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt and quickly dressed, making sure to retrieve his colored contacts from the bathroom. If he was lucky he could get there and back before Jack even knew he was gone, thereby avoiding any awkward questions. He knew he smelled like sex and her, but he didn't care. Most of the time after he left a woman, the first thing he did was shower, but he didn't mind smelling like Jack. Leaving the light burning so she wouldn't awaken in a strange place to total darkness, he closed the door to the cabin behind him.
Jack had awakened as soon as she felt him move. She started to protest but she realized the buzzing she heard was the comm-unit. Curiosity getting the better of her, she lay perfectly still, trying to keep her breathing even and steady as she listened. *He's leaving tomorrow morning? So soon?* A terrible thought worked its way into her mind as she wondered if he would tell her. Since he was obviously trying to make as little noise as possible to keep from waking her, she continued to feign sleep. When he was gone, she sat up on the edge of the bunk, combing a hand through her tangled hair. She needed a plan, something to show him how useful she could be. Something that would make him want to keep her around.
Remembering that he had been wearing coveralls, she wondered what he'd been working on. If she could fix whatever it was before he got back, that would prove that she was useful, right? Sliding off the bed, conscious of the pleasant aches that had settled into her bones, she pulled her underwear out of the pile of clothes laying on the floor and tugged them on along with her t-shirt and the coveralls Riddick had been wearing. She had to roll the sleeves and legs up and it was about four sizes too big for her, but she wasn't trying to enter the Miss Universe contest. Tugging on her boots, she left the cabin and went back to the flight deck to recover her backpack.
*********************************************************
Riddick had been mistaken if he thought he was going to get back to the Persephone anytime soon. It seemed like this was taking longer than the original in-processing did. Glancing down at his watch, he breathed heavily through his nose. He'd been standing in the line for half an hour. How long could he expect Jack to sleep? Lifting up the darkly tinted glasses, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. How much fucking longer was this going to take?
********************************************************
It didn't take long to find what Riddick had been working on. The guts of the grav unit were still strewn across the floor of the repair access crawlspace. Jack smiled, gravs were easy fixes, and luckily Riddick was smart enough to lay the pieces out in the order in which they'd been removed. Made her job much easier. A few adjustments and she was confident that the unit was back up to standard. Now what was she going to do until Riddick got back? A mischievous smile touched her lips, she'd wanted a chance to get down here and really see what was what in the old ship, well, this was her chance. Shining her worktorch around, she began checking the old girl out.
********************************************************
When Carson heard that the fuel shipment was coming in early, he knew this would be his last chance to confirm Riddick's identity. A friend of his was one of the dockhands, so he spent the afternoon on the docks under the pretense of visiting him, he knew that sooner or later the man would have to come out and get his paperwork started, it was just a waiting game now. Finally, he emerged and Carson knew he had him. No hat, no jacket, no glasses until the glare of the dock lights forced him to put them on. There wasn't a question in his mind anymore. "Gotcha." It only took one call to get the ball rolling.
********************************************************
By the time Riddick made it back to the ship, he was fairly pissed. It had taken all his will power not to strangle the life out of the clerk as she calmly, and extremely slowly, processed the paperwork that would get his ship refueled. Now, an hour after he'd left, he let himself back into the Persephone and went to find Jack. He'd had plenty of time to get those walls firmly back in place, and he had every intention of getting her the hell off this ship so he could leave as soon as they gave him clearance.
He opened the door to his cabin to find it empty. Jack's jeans and bra were still laying on the floor, but her panties and t-shirt and his coveralls were gone from the pile. *Why the hell would she go off with my coveralls?* he wondered, but even as he asked the question, he knew. She was an engineer, where else would she go on a new ship but exploring?
Riddick didn't really have to look very hard to find Jack, she was exactly where he'd expected her to be. Plus, she'd turned on every light between the cabin and the RAC. Crouching down on the floor next to the access panel, he watched as the light from a worktorch bobbed around in the near darkness and waited.
Jack had checked every system and found they were pretty well taken care of. Riddick knew his ship and took care of her. That was a good thing. Lots of people left ship's maintenance up to station or planetside repair crews, and they usually did a good job but it wasn't like taking care of your own. Content that everything was in tiptop shape, she started back out of the access crawlspace. Flicking off her worktorch as she neared the access panel, she stood up, her head coming just barely above the edge of the floor and came face to face with Riddick's boots. *Busted again,* she thought with a smile, hoping that this one ended as well as the other had. Looking up at him, her smile faded as she saw the look on his face. He was not a happy camper. "Hi," she managed weakly.
"You find anything interesting?" He really wasn't mad at Jack, but she was the closest one there was to take it out on. Grabbing her under her arms as she started to climb out of the access panel, he lifted her effortlessly onto the decking beside him, kicking the panel grid back into place. "What were you doing down there anyway?"
Jack squared her shoulders and crossed her arms over her chest. "I fixed your grav unit, so you're welcome."
Riddick raised an eyebrow at her, the anger felt good, better than the uncomfortable feelings he'd been having earlier, more familiar. "I could have fixed it myself."
Jack realized where this was going and for once took Imam's advice. She let her anger slip away as quickly as it had surfaced. Instead, she smiled at him, a wide, inviting smile. "Yes, I saw from the other systems that you keep everything running just fine, but I fixed it a lot faster than you could have." Picking up where they'd left off earlier, she stepped closer to him, sliding her hands over his stomach and resting them on his hips, slightly miffed that he didn't offer to lift his hands to touch her but she didn't let her smile falter. "I figured this way you'd see just how invaluable I am and this way we can spend more time together."
He didn't like that she was starting to get to him. He couldn't let her do that. Reminding himself again that he was leaving the station without her in the morning, he kept his face an unreadable mask. "Did you?" His voice was soft, cold.
Her smile did falter this time. He was pushing her away. *Damn him!* Was he just going to pretend that nothing had happened? But then a horrible thought ran through her mind, what if he just saw her as another convenient lay? Uncertain now, she frowned up at him. "Yeah. I did. I thought we were having fun." She wanted to say 'I thought I meant something to you,' but she didn't want the answer to that right at this moment.
Riddick shrugged. "Yeah. We did," past tense, "but I've got some other stuff I need to do right now." Truthfully, he'd like nothing better than to strip off those coveralls and take her right there on the floor of the cargo bay. The image of doing just that had him hardening painfully, but luckily she was looking at his face instead of his pants.
"Got stuff to do before you leave?" It was a test of sorts, to see if he would tell her that he'd be leaving a day early. She silently begged him to tell her.
"Yeah, lots of stuff to do, not much time." Ok, well it wasn't entirely a lie, and he wasn't obligated to check his schedule with her. *Don't give me that look, Jack,* he thought, *I know I'm an asshole.*
He wasn't going to tell her. He really wasn't going to tell her. She felt so disappointed in him that it actually caused her heart to ache so she crossed her arms over her chest, hoping to relieve some of the pain. *One last chance to tell me, Riddick,* she thought. "Well, maybe we can get together tomorrow night after I get off work." Her voice sounded flat.
He was glad he didn't have to actually look at her, the darkly tinted glasses hiding his eyes. "Yeah. Maybe." He hated lying to her, no matter how necessary it might be. He didn't normally see the use of lying in general, he figured if people didn't like the truth fuck 'em.
Jack couldn't believe it, she never would have believed he'd actually lie directly to her face. Sure he was a killer, but he'd never been one to mince words, never seemed to feel the need to lie. But that's exactly what he was doing now, just to get rid of her. She had trusted him with everything and this was what he gave her in return, a betrayal of that trust. Tossing her heavy braid back over her shoulder, she took a step away from him feeling hurt and betrayed and hoping neither was showing on her face. "Ok, then. I'll just go get my stuff and let you get to," she waved her hand to indicate the ship, "whatever." She turned away and promised herself she wouldn't look back. She didn't.
Watching her walk away was one of the hardest things he could remember having to do, a lot harder than it should have been, but he knew it was for the best. "Bye, Jack," he said quietly, knowing she couldn't hear him and knowing it was the last time he'd ever see her.