Broken Promises
Chapter 6
Cassidy drifted in and out of sleep slowly, sleep and wake barely distinguishable. She was the master of catnapping. It was no surprise, then, that she jolted upright as the skiff made its decent, the turbulence from the approaching planet's gravity kicking in. She swore and stood, walking on shaking legs on a shaking ship toward the closest chair with a securing mechanism. And naturally there were only two such chairs - the pilot's seat and the co-pilot's seat. She swore again, plopping in the chair next to Riddick and strapping in, the harshness of her movements making it abundantly clear that she was still not a happy camper. He sighed inwardly. Women. Freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional. As always. In a huff because she couldn't win. He shook his head slightly, watching her eyes shift over to him.
"Turbulence is something else," he lied, hoping to cover his thoughts.
"You can manage," she retorted, her voice strained and cold. He grimaced. "Where are we?"
"New Mecca," Riddick grunted. Her eyebrow rose. "Friend of mine can help us out." An even more confused expression. "I saved his ass a while back, he owes me." His stomach sunk as he realized that Jack was probably still with Imam. Nosy little kid, he thought with a touch of sentiment. Probably still taken with me. It'll be a damn hard thing to explain Cass to her. Poor kid. He shook his head, pretending to concentrate on the final decent.
"Private landing strip?" Riddick nodded the answer to her question. No big surprise. New Mecca was a safe haven. The destination of Muslim pilgrims. How the fuck does Riddick know a religious man? She wondered, taking in the sights of this portion of planet as they neared the ground.
The skiff was set down without a hitch, a flawless landing. If Cassidy hadn't known better, she would have sworn his wheels never touched the ground, the landing was that smooth.
She followed him out of the skiff and down a narrow dirt road leading up to a temple about a mile away. She was tired and sore, but didn't complain about walking. It would help loosen her up a little, perhaps. Not a word was spoken between them, until Riddick stopped in front of a small flat and motioned with his head that this was their destination. Her eyebrow rose, but she followed him up the walkway.
The man opened the door, his eyes widening before he gestured for them to enter. He led them down the hallway and into a sitting room. Holy man, Cassidy thought to herself, taking in the low seats constructed for meditation, and the small row of prayer blankets arranged for visitors on the floor, in a row before the long sliding glass doors leading to a lush garden in the backyard. Her eyes flitted around the room.
"Explore, my child," the holy man granted her. "There is enough house here to occupy your thoughts. The garden is a place of great healing. You're hurting. Go, child. Let the gardens consume you." Her eyebrow rose, but she granted his request and disappeared among the flowers, herbs, and shrubs, every now and again reaching out to caress a petal or leaf with a loving finger. "She's a beautiful woman." Riddick nodded.
"Difficult," was his gruff reply.
"All loved ones are difficult at times." Riddick grunted. He wasn't going to admit to Imam how he felt about Cassidy. No way would he let that get back to Jack.
"Where's Jack?" Riddick asked, the thought inspiring a topic for superficial conversation.
"She's started her own life," Imam said a little sadly. "She calls every now and then. But her calls are less and less frequent." He paused, looking Riddick over quickly. "She never accepted that you had to leave her," he said quickly.
"I gathered as much."
"Perhaps you should visit her," Imam suggested. Riddick snickered.
"Nah. It'll just reinforce any misconceptions she had about me. She needs to figure out that I'm not a knight in shining armor. She can do better than me."
"And if she doesn't want to?"
"It's not an option, Holy Man," Riddick sighed. "You know as well as I do she can get into enough trouble on her own. I don't want to fuck up her life like I have mine."
"Emotions are stronger than reason."
"Only if you let them be," was Riddick's coarse reply. His eyes wandered back to Cassidy. "In her case," he let himself trail off.
"She's your age, I'm guessing," Imam said. "More suitable for you than Jack, I suppose?" Riddick nodded.
"A female version of me." Imam's eyebrow rose.
"You need someone to counteract you." Riddick nodded at this suggestion. He knew.
"Somehow she turned out just like me, but completely the opposite." Imam laughed.
"Women can seem that way." Riddick smiled slightly. The holy man had a point. Imam paused slightly, Riddick knowing the question was almost posed. "Do you love this woman, Mr. Riddick?" Riddick swallowed.
"I used to," he admitted.
"And now?"
"I want to, but I don't think she'll let me." He sighed and shook his head. "No, that's not it." Imam waited patiently for an explanation. "I don't know how to. I fucked it up so bad in the past I'm not sure I can fix it."
"A broken ship and a broken bone call all be repaired, Mr. Riddick. It only takes time and work."
"But ships and bones aren't anything like women," Riddick said with a smirk.
"But only time and work will fix a broken relationship."
***
Riddick stared up at the ceiling. Sleep didn't come easily for him anyway, and the constant thinking about what he could possibly do to make the situation - with Cassidy and the hits - better at all weren't helping him. He sighed and stood, stretching lazily with a huge yawn, trying to make it a silent one so he wouldn't wake the slumbering holy man and Cassidy. He shook his head, hoping to loosen the cobwebs starting to form up there. Life was starting to catch up to him, and he wasn't comfortable with that.
He wandered around the house for a while, stopping for some time in front of a small collection of pictures. Most of them were of Jack, in several stages of growth. The most recent one captured Riddick's attention. Her hair had grown, and her features had matured. She'd turned into a pretty girl. Girl in comparison to Cassidy anyway. By now, Jack had to be around twenty, a legal adult, but to Riddick, she'd always be the nosy little "Kid" he'd risked his life for - and almost lost - back on that God forsaken planet. A twinge of regret and pain, and then curiosity. He shrugged to himself and then wandered through the gardens for a while.
In the cool air, the scent of peppermint soothed his nerves a little, and he found himself starting to relax again. There would always be the little voice in the back of his head keeping him on high alert - he'd been programmed that way for so long it was hard to control, and he knew he was safer that way. He reached out to touch a jasmine plant and smiled slightly, thinking back to Cassidy's apartment. Leaning over, he confirmed the scent. Mental note.
On the way back to the room Imam had given him, he stopped in front of the pictures again. The ones of Imam's three sons were all framed in black, matted behind white paper, printed in black and white film. To honor them in death, he supposed. But the ones of Jack were full of color, the frames a dull silver. She was still very much alive, in the pictures and in life. A proud smile touched Riddick's features.
"Who is she?" Riddick nearly had to peel himself off the ceiling. Cassidy smiled as he jumped, not realizing she'd taken him by surprise. He sighed in a vain attempt to catch his breath.
"Imam's daughter," Riddick said quietly. Cassidy's eyebrow rose. "He took her in after." he trailed off. Cassidy didn't know about the crash. He took a breath and paused, glancing up at her and then back down to the pictures. "Do you remember the Hunter-Gratzner?" She nodded and reached out, picking up a photo.
"That merchant vessel that crashed on T2." He nodded. "I remember. What about it?"
"There were three survivors." Her brow furrowed.
"The news said no one survived." He smirked.
"It was me, Imam, and Jack," Riddick informed. She shook her head. He nodded to the picture in her hands. "That's Jack." Her lips formed a silent "oh," and she nodded slightly.
"Evidently she didn't like the way things ended." Riddick's eyes met hers again, his face registering confusion. She smirked, as though she knew something he didn't. "Who are the boys?"
"What do you mean?"
"The boys in the pictures. Black and white?" Cassidy knew he was asking about the comment about how things ended, but she didn't want to let him in on it yet.
"No, what you said earlier." She looked up at him innocently, depositing the photo of the girl into his hands. "How did you know she didn't like the way things ended?"
"Just the look in her eyes. She looks empty, like she's missing something." Riddick raised his eyebrows. "I'm guessing you were her hero. You said you saved Imam's ass and he owed you a favor, right?" Riddick nodded slowly. "If it was the three of you, you saved her too." Her eyes grew dark. "You know how girls feel about the men that save them, don't you?" He sighed. This again.
"Cassidy -"
"Forget it." She turned and left the hallway, stopping only for a second to turn and say simply, "She's our contact," before walking away.
It took him a while to figure that out, just standing there in the hallway, processing that last comment. Contact, contact, WHAT contact? He searched his memory of the past few days. The mercs, the ship, the hit. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open.
"Son of a bitch." The hit. The fucking hit. Damn it to hell, where the fuck did Jack get the kind of money to take out a hit on me and Cassidy? Fuck. What the hell is she up to? He hadn't gotten a close look at the woman who dared to pull a gun on Cassidy. No doubt Cassidy wanted revenge for that. And now that she knew just who the contact was to Riddick, his little Jack, there was no telling what she would do. Then again, if Jack has the balls to take out a hit on me, there's no telling what she has planned for Cassidy, either. "Fuck."
"Mr. Riddick?" Riddick turned quickly, sliding down the wall to the floor, the picture of Jack between his fingers. "Is everything all right?" Riddick shook his head, the ridiculousness of the situation forcing the laughter from his chest.
"We came here because someone ordered a hit on both of us, Imam," Riddick admitted. "I took the hit on Cassidy and she took the hit on me." Imam shook his head, watching Riddick run his fingers over the photo of Jack, not making the connection.
"What does that have to do with Jack?" Imam asked. Riddick looked up at him, his jaw set, the muscles clenching and rippling. "Allah," Imam breathed as the realization hit him.
"Any idea where she got thirty-five thousand credits?" Imam took a step backward.
"That's a lot of money," he replied.
"Twenty-five for me, ten for Cassidy. Any idea?" Imam just shook his head. "Any idea why she would set us up like this?" Another shake of the head. "Well, any idea how she found out about Cassidy in the first place?"
"Prison records are public, Mr. Riddick. I suppose she could have gotten that information from a database somewhere. She's become quite adept with computers."
"Well," Riddick sighed, "she's getting pretty desperate to do something if she's willing to sic mercs on me." Imam's eyes shot up to meet Riddick's. "That's why we came here. Had to get off the planet. They knew we were there."
"Are you sure it was Jack?"
"Positive," came the reply from the doorway. They both turned to see Cassidy leaning against the doorframe. "I'd remember that face anywhere."
"Why do you say that?" Imam asked.
"Because it's the face that had a gun pointed in my face," she retorted. Riddick held up a hand, silencing her.
"Imam, do you know how to get a hold of her?" He nodded slowly. "Vid-phone?" Another slight nod. "Think you can get her to come home?"
"What do you have planned, Mr. Riddick?" Imam asked suspiciously.
"Just want to talk some sense into her. Figure you're the only one she'll listen to at this point."
They both could see the despair in Imam's eyes, torn between protecting his protector and his adopted daughter. He knew Jack wasn't thinking clearly if she'd taken out a hit on her hero, especially one that took so much planning and was so complicated. He sighed.
"Only if you give me your word that you won't harm her in any way."
"The fuck we -" Riddick sent Cassidy a glare that turned her blood cold.
"I could never hurt Jack. You know that, Imam." Cassidy's eyes narrowed.
"And you," Imam said, turning to look Cassidy in the eye. "You must also give me your word." Her eyebrow rose.
"I don't make promises."
"Cassidy," Riddick growled, turning to face her. His nostrils flared, his eyes dark and angry. She didn't shrink at his intimidation tactic - she knew him too well.
"She hired me to kill you and you to kill me. What's left to protect, Riddick? Huh? Some little hallucination you have of her looking up to you? Obviously that's been torn down now, since she WANTS YOU DEAD!" she yelled, her own anger surfacing. Imam backed up a few steps, unsure of how far this would go. "You don't give a shit about her, Riddick, do you? I mean, honestly. Do you give a shit about anyone but yourself any more?" Riddick let out an animalistic growl as he lunged at her, shoving her against the wall with a thud, the breath forced from her lungs with a strangled "Huhgnh." She cringed. Maybe I pushed this too far.
"She's like a kid sister to me," he stated, his voice low and dangerous. "I risked my life for her several times, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Imam and I are all she's got."
"How long has it been since you last talked to her, Riddick?" His eyes narrowed. "When was the last time you saw her, or thought about her?"
"I think about her every day."
"And me?" Her eyes never wavered from his. "You feel so much for someone who hired someone to kill you. How do you feel about me?" His arms trembled on either side of her head, his hands clenching her shoulders. He towered over her, but she showed no signs of fear. He let his head drop, staring at the carpet between them. Imam had slipped silently from the scene, opting to go down the hall to pray that both of them made it through this confrontation. Riddick just shook his head. "You swear you won't hurt her, even after she abandoned you, even after she tried to have you killed." She paused, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice. "But you don't hesitate to hurt me." His arms quivered even more. "How can I promise not to hurt someone who's captured the attention of the man I've always loved, honestly loved. Not in the way she loves you, not as a hero, not as something you're not. I've loved you, murderer and all, I've accepted that part of you and I don't shy away from it." Obviously, she thought, glancing at his hands still digging into her shoulders. "I've loved all of you - every part of the animal you are - no misconceptions, no sugar-coating. How can I promise not to hurt someone that you love more than me in spite of all that?"
Her voice cracked. She'd almost made it all the way through. Almost. She didn't know how he could hold himself up with as badly as his arms were shaking. He'd not looked at her since she'd asked him how he felt about her. By now she was drained - physically and emotionally. She couldn't do this any more. His arms wrapped around her, pulled her from the wall, enclosing her entire body. His whole massive frame was trembling as he held her, nearly suffocating her, he was holding her against him so tightly. He pressed his cheek against hers, his eyes closed, as he picked her up off the ground. Her arms instinctively went around his shoulders, allowing him to expel all remaining air between them.
She pulled away from him slightly, touching her cheek. She hadn't let any tears break free, no matter how close she'd gotten. Her fingers then went to his face, tracing the features until she found the small stream on either cheek. Her face registered surprise, but he kept his eyes closed, sheltered from her vicious gaze.
But it wasn't vicious this time. She was confused, surprised, and scared at what she'd discovered - that Richard B. Riddick was capable of crying. Well, sort of. He wasn't blubbering like she had a few nights previously. But he was shedding tears. And she was touched by it.
"Talk to me," she whispered, pressing her cheek to his again, one hand drying his other cheek, her other hand caressing the back of his head and neck. He shook his head against her. "Please, talk to me, Riddick." She pushed his head away from hers, her hands still playing over his features. He was forcing a scowl, hoping to hide what he was feeling, but she saw through it. She leaned forward, touching the tip of her nose to his, watching his eyes open slowly.
He was a little taken aback by the emotion in her eyes. Unsure of what it was, he just stared right back at her, determined to figure out what that expression was. Genuine concern. His lip quivered slightly, something she never thought she'd see.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered. She shook her head.
"I'm the one that should be," she returned. "I can't force you to love me the way I love you." She no longer tried to stop the tears, or keep the emotion from her voice. "I can't convince you to choose me over her."
"But I do and I have," he insisted.
"Have you?" He searched her eyes. It wasn't a sarcastic question, but one she wanted a genuine answer to. He sunk to his knees, still holding her against him, and she knelt above him, her arms still wrapped around his shoulders. They were both trembling. Neither was accustomed to admitting emotions so openly, much less to each other.
"I don't love her the way I love you, Cass," he said quietly, his eyes never leaving hers. "I may not know how to show it, but I know, somehow, that you have a part of me." He fumbled with his words every now and then, but Cassidy didn't interject. "I'm scared that I'll lose you again, but I don't know how to." he trailed off, searching for words, finally sighing. "I don't know what the fuck I'm doing," he admitted. "Jack's a little sister to me. Nothing more, nothing less." She nodded, her lip trembling. "But you," he said quickly, "I can't describe it. You cloud up my head, and I can't keep my attention on anything else if you're anywhere near me. I'd risk my life again for Jack. But I'd kill everyone in the universe, including myself, for you." He shook his head, watching the tears slide down her cheeks. "But I don't know how to love you. I don't know what I'm doing with all of this. With Jack, it's just a protection thing, and that's easy. Just make sure she's okay. But you." he smirked slightly. "I don't know what to do with you." She returned the smile. "I don't know how to convince you to believe me, when you have no reason to, and I don't know how to show you, I can't explain to you, and." A heavy sigh. "All I can do is feel something for you. I don't remember what it feels like to be loved, so I don't remember how to show it." He took a breath to continue, but she placed a finger over his lips and shook her head.
"All you have to do is love me, if that's how you feel."
"But how?" She shook her head again.
"There is no how," she said quietly. "There's no rules for how you love someone, you just do it. Don't think about the angles, the strategies, the techniques. Just act."
"But."
"No, Riddick." She smiled, frustrated. "No how, just do." She watched him work those words over in his head - saw the wheels turning. "It's like survival. You just do it. Whatever it takes to survive is what needs to be done."
"That's different," he insisted.
"No it's not." She shook her head. "If you feel like something's threatening you, you run or get ready to fight, yes?" He nodded. "If you feel like you love me, just love me. Whatever you think that takes at that moment, do. It's that simple." He took a breath, but she shook her head. "Don't think, Riddick." Evidently, it finally sunk in. His lips pressed ever so lightly against hers, as if it was the first time he'd ever kissed anyone. She followed his lead, letting him try to figure things out on his own. It ended up being a simple, soft kiss, and he pulled away slowly, his arms tightening around her to bring her closer to him, just holding her. He finally let himself go, and just did what felt right. He cradled her against him, placing soft kisses against her shoulder, rocking slowly back and forth, his eyes squeezed shut.
"God, I love you," he whispered.
"I know you do."
