Chapter 36 - Rough Reunion

Riddick loosened his hold on her waist, though he didn't let her go. Looked like Amy wasn't the only one pissed at him. "I'll have to remember to keep any of my important body parts to myself then." There was a smile in his voice, though he knew she couldn't see him. He knew he was dancing with danger to keep holding her like that when she was obviously not ready to kiss and make up, but he liked the feel of her. The smell of her filled his senses and he wanted to bury his face in her hair. He indulged himself by brushing his cheek lightly over her hair.

Jack willed herself to be strong, it'd be just too easy to give in and pretend like two months hadn't passed. Like he hadn't pushed her away on the station then just left her here to rot. Pulling out of his grasp, she turned and faced him, even though she could see only a bare outline of him in the dim light from the hall "Why'd you bother coming back?" She was half afraid of the answer.

The coldness in her voice shook him, he hadn't expected that. Heat and anger and probably resentment, but not the detached coldness he heard. *How can she ask me that?* His voice was flat, hard when he answered. "I always repay my debts."

So it didn't have anything to do with his caring about her, she was just a debt to be repaid. That knowledge hurt. She wouldn't cry though, she'd already shed enough tears. "You don't owe me anything. The way I look at it, we're even. You saved my life, I saved yours. Even."

Riddick stood there and looked at her through the darkness. She was so strong, he didn't imagine she had any clue as to how strong she really was. "No. We're not anywhere close to even." *You can't even imagine how far from even we are.*

She raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, granted, you saved me twice and I only saved you once, but I figured I should get points for hospital time."

Wincing inwardly at her remark, he just shook his head. "There's no way we'll ever be even, Jack. The big difference between you saving me and me saving you is that when I did it, I didn't have anything to lose. You lost everything. I can't ever pay you back for that, I wouldn't even know where to start." This reunion just wasn't going as well as he had hoped. He raised his hand to her cheek, caressing it with his palm, pleased that she pressed against it before she knew what she was doing. He was glad to know that there were still feelings there.

Suddenly realizing what she was doing, Jack took a step away from him, pushing away the emotions and desires he stirred within her. She was ready and spoiling for a fight. All the anger and hurt and worry she'd had over the last two months were back in full force and she wanted to let loose on the source, Riddick. "Goddamnit, Riddick. Where the hell have you been for the last two months?" she hissed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Lights, twenty-five percent." She wanted to be able to see his face when he answered the question.

But as soon as the lights came up, she saw the dark red crease of a pulse blast that had not healed yet over his left shoulder, the healing bruises on his face and ribs from crashing into the bulkhead and the flight controls respectively while being bombarded with blasts from the A-class cruisers, and the other cuts and burns over his forearms where he'd worked as hard as he could to hold his ship together as he tried to get back to D2. For a moment, she was shocked into speechlessness. He looked like he'd been to hell and back. Her heart twisted, and she wanted to cry for him. "Jesus H., Riddick, what happened to you?" Then she saw the familiar card key hanging around his neck and realization dawned on her face. "You went to my house?" Stepping forward, she touched the key with her fingertips, lightly caressing Riddick's chest in the process. "You got my lock box?" the surprise evident in her voice as she looked up into his eyes. "But why? How? Did you look in it? And what happened to you? What took you so long?" She waited a second, but he didn't answer. "Well?"

A small smile touched the corner of his mouth. "I was just making sure you were done. Do you want your answers in chronological order or in order of the questions?"

Frowning, she gripped the key on its chain and yanked gently. "I was worried about you, and hurt, and lost, and I didn't know if you were coming back. Why the hell didn't you just wait until I woke up and tell me you were going to try to go to New Sydney?"

The smile faded. *Because if I'd waited, you would have come with me. Whether you were physically able to or not.* It suddenly pissed him off that she hadn't trusted him enough to believe he'd be back, but what did he really expect? It wasn't like he'd really proven himself overly trustworthy in that department. Still, now it was different. He'd come through hell to get back to her, couldn't she see that? "I don't have to justify where I go or when to you or anyone else, Jack. Doc told you I'd be back, if you didn't trust me to keep my word, that's not really my problem." Slipping the chain off his neck, he grabbed her hand and dropped the key into it. "There you go. I just got the shit knocked out of me and my ship running this little errand for you so I hope whatever's in that fucking box was worth it." Stepping around her, he strode across the room, dropping down onto the bed and pulling the sheet up over him. "Your precious box is in the bag at the end of the bed with some of your other stuff." He waited a heartbeat. "You're welcome." Folding his hands behind his head, he closed his eyes. "Turn off the lights when you're done. I'm tired, I'm going back to sleep." Even with his eyes closed, he was acutely aware of Jack standing in the room with him.

Jack stood there for a moment, staring at him as he lay back as if to go back to sleep. She didn't really know what to say. Thanks? Welcome back? She looked at him and studied him. There were dark circles under his eyes and even with his eyes closed, he looked tired. He'd been beaten up, his ship had apparently taken a beating too, and all so he could bring this box to her. A mission he'd thought foolhardy and useless, but he'd done it because he had promised her he would. Because he cared about her. And he didn't even know what was in the box that he'd risked his life for. "Don't you want to see inside it?" she asked softly.

"No," he grumbled, though he actually would love to see what was worth all the shit he'd gone through. He wasn't about to let her know that. "I want to sleep."

"Not even a peek?" Sliding over to the side of the bed, she dangled the key an inch above his nose. "It was always meant to go to you, anyway."

*Really?* Ok, now he was intrigued. *Shit.* "You don't have to give me anything, Jack." He said quietly, looking up at her. She was so beautiful standing there, her long hair hanging down like a curtain, throwing one side of her face into shadow. His fingers itched to reach up and thread through its silky lengths. *What would she do if I grabbed her and showed her what I'd really like her to give me?* he wondered idly.

Her breath caught in her throat at the look in his eyes. She swallowed hard and cleared her throat. "Fine then, I'll just keep it for myself."

"You aren't going to leave me alone until I look in that fucking box, are you?" he growled.

She didn't even see his hand as it snaked out and snatched the key from her fingers. He was up and off the bed before she could make a grab for the key. "HEY! Give that back."

A look of complete seriousness on his face, he dangled it from his fingers and held it over her head, just out of her reach. "You said it was supposed to be mine anyway. What are you now? An Indian giver?"

Giving up trying to take the key, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine. You don't know the code so the key won't do you much good anyway."

He shrugged slightly. "I can break the code."

She smiled sweetly at him. "But that would take a long time. It'd be easier if you just let me open the box."

Sitting down on the end of the bed, he pulled the box out of the bag and sat it on the floor, then proceeded to pull his pulse pistol out of the holster hanging on the end of the bed. "Actually, this is a lot easier than the key or the code." He pointed the gun at the locking mechanism.

"Riddick! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Laying her hand on his arm, she pushed the gun away. "That would ruin everything in the box."

He looked up at her, cocking an eyebrow. "But it would get it open, wouldn't it?"

Mimicking his expression, she held her hand out. "Just give me the damn key and I'll open it."

After a moment, he dropped the key in her hand then crossed his arms over his chest. "Ok, so open it."

Dropping gracefully to the floor, she sat Indian style in front of the box. Fitting the tiny card key into the slot, she punched in the code, smiling when she heard the locks disengage. "Now for the moment we've all been waiting for," she said with a small smile on her face. The smile faded when she looked up at Riddick who was studying her through tired, silver eyes. "What?"

"I'm sorry it took so long to get back, Jack."

Nothing could have melted her as quickly as the softly spoken words of apology. "I'm not going to pretend that it's all ok, because it isn't." She felt her throat swell with tears that she refused to shed. "I wish you hadn't left. Not just because I would have wanted to go with you, but because I needed you here." She pushed the tears away, clearing her throat. "And I think it was cowardly of you to just up and leave like that before I even woke up."

His mercury eyes darkened, no one called him a coward. "All I can do is say I'm sorry, Jack. I can't go back and change the past."

"I'm not asking you to, Riddick," she said quietly.

"What are you asking, then?" Did things always have to be this complicated? "What do you want, Jack?"

She shrugged. "I don't know." She looked him in the eye. "What do you want, Riddick?"

He answered before he even had a chance to think about it. "I'm not sure."

"I guess that puts us on even footing."

She smiled, the first real smile he'd seen in what felt like ages. It felt good to see her like that. But for some reason he didn't feel on very even footing. In fact he felt like he was standing in the middle of a vortex, like he'd lost control over his own life. It was a feeling both uncomfortable and exhilarating. "So, are you going to show me what's in that box that I risked my life for?" She opened the box, revealing a pile of papers, journals, pictures. He grabbed a handful and flipped through them, a frown on his face. "I risked my life and my ship for a box of memorabilia about myself?" He looked at her like she was completely insane. "No offense, but this isn't exactly world shattering stuff." *And definitely not worth the hell I went through.*

Jack gave him a long-suffering sigh, snatching the papers out of his hand. "This isn't the important stuff." Well, it was important to her, but that was just sentimental value. Reaching down into the box, she cleared out the papers leaving the box seemingly empty. Feeling along the edge, she pressed a combination of buttons and the bottom popped open, revealing a hidden compartment. She smiled widely as she pulled the false bottom out and sat it with the papers. The look on Riddick's face was priceless. "Well, what do you think?"

"Jesus, Jack!" Riddick said as he picked up a handful of the credit chips. "Are these what I think they are?"

"Hard currency chips," Jack said, with a hint of pride in her voice. "And they're all maxed out. Twenty-five thousand credits each."

"Holy Mother of God," he said as he looked through the bottom of the box.

"And here I thought you weren't a religious man," Jack joked, glad that she'd done something to surprise Riddick for once.