Chapter Two, Found You

Well, because of my own negligence, I was a day late getting to port. I was lucky to reach the port right as the landing cables were struck up for docking; they had let no one out yet.

I waited impatiently, half eager, half nervous of what I would find on the ship. I wasn't sure what he would say to me when he saw me. I could hardly remember what he looked like. All I could remember was half-muffled memories; the glint of his eyes in the dim light of the cabin, the rumble of his low voice, the sweat beading on his muscular arms.

I would have liked to think I dressed the way I did today because of my own need to show the world who I was, but I knew it was just another attempt to impress Riddick.

I had pulled on my black suede pants that fitted me quite snug (as I now had the figure), a dark gray leather belt, and a black poly-grish three-quarter sleeve shirt that reflected the wane sun almost blindingly. I had purchased a new pair of black, steel-toed boots early this morning, and a sidearm, a 450Ms AA keiver pistola. The silver-bodied gun stuck out against all the black as it hung on the belt I wore, my own slender hand upon it.

I had decided to braid my hair (for once), and let it fall down my back in a thick line. My face was clear of any makeup; I didn't need any, thankfully. I had a good-sized morphpac on; with all the material and evidence I needed to show to Riddick and convince him. All the other things I had purchased were waiting upon the Neidet Dawne for Riddick and me.

I let out another annoyed sigh as the walk bridge began to lower. Those damn things took too long anyhow.

Passengers and cargo crews began to exit and enter, and as the crowd began to thin out I began to wonder if maybe I had gotten the wrong ship…maybe he wasn't even on it.

I stepped onto the wide walk bridge and put a hand on my hip, right over the gun, and placed all my weight on a straightened leg. Every time someone would start to head in my direction, I would give them a glare and they'd back off without comment.

I'm sure it was my blue ES eyes that were spooking them; this planet's sun was not bright enough to have any need for ES and I doubt they got many people here who had had the surgical procedure done…New Meccans tended to stay far from this direly inconspicuous planet.

Finally, after most of the passengers and crew had departed the vessel, he emerged.

I lost my strong, defiant stance as I caught sight of him. He looked almost exactly the same, maybe a year or two older. Had he really spent most of the past years in cryo?

My gaze traveled over him; muscled, dark-skinned body, shaved head, goggles in place, same taste in clothes, and that ever-present air of predator.

He stopped at the stop of the bridge, glancing about, old, brown cloth bag over his shoulder. I realized that I had stopped breathing.

I took a deep breath again, watching as he came down the ramp.

Oh, that walk, how could I forget that walk?

I stood straighter now as he approached, face moving into smooth blankness. I opened my mouth to say his name when he glanced at me, then went past.

I blinked and shut my mouth. He just walked straight by me!

I stayed there, frozen for a moment before I found my feet and turned to look for him. I caught a glimpse of him before he entered the crowded dock street, his tall form pushing past the various people.

I leaped the last couple of feet off the walk bridge and ran after him. I hit the wall of people hard, knocking someone aside on accident and muttered, "Sorry" as I took off again.

I could see him ahead, but it was hard to get through the mass of people and I could tell his wider stride was carrying him away. I almost used his real name, but instead shouted out the alias he had been under for the past years.

"Johns! William Johns! Wait!" I kept shoving through the people, who were by then growing irritated at my impatient movements.

I mumbled a short, "Allahu Akbar." Up ahead, Riddick had stopped, and turned, a frown on his face as he waited for whoever it was to catch up.

I finally burst into the small clearing his body made in the sea of people and stopped in front of him. He turned to watch me, not saying anything as I caught my breath.

It didn't take me long, and when I did, I wasn't thinking and burst out, "Riddick!"

I had just barely finished the name before his arm shot out and grabbed mine painfully, pulling me towards the outside of the crowd. Once we reached the outside, he pushed me against the wall of a closed-down DM Chips shop.

My morphpac hit the wall and I let out a startled whoosh of air. Riddick stepped up to me, crowding my personal space and braced a hand against the wall near my head. He leaned down into my face and growled, "I don't know who the hell you are, but you better have a fuckin' good excuse for using that name around me."

I stared up at him, eyes widening and breath catching oddly. God. I had forgotten that voice, too. It rumbled down my spine before becoming a small starburst and dissipating. His face showed no sign that he knew who I was, much less did his words just before.

A trickle of fear filled me, and I let out another breath, saying rather deadpanned, "You don't recognize me."

"If I did, we wouldn't be here right now." I saw his face slant and I could tell he was looking my body over because of a wicked tilt of his lips. I wondered vaguely if he liked what he saw.

I swallowed. "Jack. God, Riddick, its me-Jack."

His face snapped back up to mine and the smile fell from his lips. For a small second, he moved even closer but then backed up. He took a step back and looked me over again. A grin moved over his stony features and he laughed.

I noticed that the top of my head came up to his shoulders now. I had grown, obviously. It was…weird…

Another shiver ran down my spine and I straightened up.

"Fuck, Jack. It really is you. Damn…" He seemed to pause for a moment, then asked, "How old are you now?"

If I didn't know Riddick that well, I would have thought it a normal question. But, it wasn't. Not for Riddick anyways. Just why the hell would he even want to know?

I cleared my suddenly dry throat. "I'll be twenty-seven in June if I stay out of cryo." Which I wasn't, but that was irrelevant. "What about you, Riddick?" I asked back, even though I could probably guess it was around the same as the last time I saw him.

He tilted his head at me again, a slight upturn to his lips. "About two years older. Oh, and call me Johns for now." He turned to move back into the crowd, motioning me to follow. I got behind him before I could be pushed away in the mass of people. I could just barely hear him speak from in front of me, "Not runnin' with the holy man anymore?"

"Imam?" I shouted back, even though I knew who he spoke of. "No, I left him on New Mecca. That's where I've been all these years. The reason I'm on Taurus Five is because I'm lookin' for you."

"Really." He turned his head to where I could see his profile. "Well, you found me."

I translated that to "Why were you looking for me?" and answered the unspoken question. "I came looking for you because Imam wouldn't come with me and I had already asked him and he wouldn't do it. So, I decided to find you because you're the only other person who knows the things that need to be known." I realized I was babbling, but continued, voice shouting to him ahead of me. "See, I found out some things, bad things, a few years ago and they need to be taken care of. That's why I wanted you-" I stopped to catch my breath and then blushed at what I had just said because I didn't get to finish the sentence. "-to come with me back to T2."

I was relieved to get it out and found I had run into a wall since I was not paying attention. But this wall was vibrating with energy and was suddenly very tense.

Riddick started walking again, only this time taking fast, angry strides that led out of the docking district and into Temp Housing. Cheap, but clean housing, I noticed. Standard Company issued Aluminex Pre-Fab mixed in with the newer, shinier Opalar showed the Temp district had been around awhile.

I had to quicken my pass to keep up with him. "Riddick, wait up!"

He stopped again, turning to say in a very deadly voice, "I told you not to use my name here."

"I'm sorry, I was ju-"

"You gotta be fuckin' crazy, Jack. What the hell do you think you're doin' goin' back to a place like that?"

"See, that's why I wanted to talk to you."

He grunted and moved to a Multi-Purp Terminal and inserted his I.D. tag into the slot. He pulled up pricing for Temp Housing and made a reservation for one of the newer ones. He yanked out the offered code strip and retrieved his I.D. tag. His movements were fast and jerky. I could tell he was angry.

"Riddick-"

He ignored me and began walking down the row of small buildings. He went up the steps to one made from Opalar and slipped the code strip into the handle niche.

I started walking again, and followed him up the steps to the door as he opened it. "Riddick, would you please just listen to me!"

Riddick tossed his bag into the small room and then turned and pulled me in after him, slamming the door shut.

"Watch your damn mouth. I'm not lookin' to be sent into Deep Storage again anytime soon. That name'll get us both in trouble, so kill it. I told you to call me Johns."

I looked down at the floor for a moment. This was not going as planned. "Look, I'm sorry. I really need you to come with me. You're the only other person who knows how to handle those…things."

A laugh erupted and I looked up at him. I didn't know why the hell he was laughing or what he was laughing at, but I decided it wasn't anything good and I ignored it.

"I think that all that cryogas has gotten to your head, Jack."

I was actually starting to get angry at him. "Fine. You're gonna act like that. Shouldn't have expected anything else anyhow. Let me explain then, all you have to do is listen. Deal?"

He crossed his arms, watching me from behind his black specs. "Deal." His voice rumbled out of his chest.

I stared at him for a moment, amazed for a tick that he had agreed. I gave a quick smile and then lost it as I slipped the bag from my shoulder and started pulling all the things I needed out.

"You're not gonna like this, but here's what's goin' on." And I started to explain to him everything I had found.