"No!!!!!" shattered the silence of the night and Riddick was running towards the bowels of the ship looking for Jack. Her high pitched screams echoed through the entire emptiness of each corridor like a siren. The fear and terror in those screams tore at him as he frantically looked for her.
"RIDDICK!!!"
He stopped by her bed, empty. Then the ship's hold, nothing. Then the med lab, dark and empty too.
"NO!!!!!"
He stopped by his own room, undisturbed.
"JACK!" he shouted again and again. Where the fuck was she?
Breathless, he arrived at the gym, where she'd been hours earlier dancing so erotically that all the time he spent in the pilot's chair he'd fantasized about her doing that for him.
Shrouded in darkness he found her in the corner, some equipment having fallen down. She'd gotten to the weapons cabinet but was pinned onto the floor. His mind was propelled back to T2 when the creatures had pinned her underneath the skeleton of one of their dead. She was terrified then, and it was no different now. She only needed to wake up, then it would be over.
"Jack." he said approaching. He pulled off the heavy equipment and tried to touch her. Then in a quick and deadly move she came out of the mass of over turned pads and weights with a shiv in her hand, trying to kill those deadly creatures herself.
He barely missed taking a slice to the chest. Damn she was fast. He thought. "JACK!" he boomed and her eyes fluttered open and she collapsed on the floor in a heap, crying.
"Jack." He said softer, tenderly and calming as he moved slowly to take it out of her hand. "Hey, it's just a dream."
She didn't speak, nor did she move. She just looked like she did when they flew off the planet and she had awoke from the dreams, frightened, confused and feeling very alone. He pulled her into his lap and rocked her, like he did back then. "Sh. It's okay Jack. It's just a dream."
Her racking sobs, now just a sniffle caused him to wince. He knew that fear, the one that crept on you when you least expected it. "Hey, let's get you back to bed."
"Riddick?" she asked as he effortlessly lifted her from off the floor.
"Yeah kid?" he answered walking in the darkness.
"Does it ever stop?" she whispered and the soft breath on her neck made the goose flesh rise on his arms.
"No, but it doesn't hurt as much. You get tough." He told her. "Li-"
"No lights. I like the dark. I'm okay with the dark." She told him.
"Jack you're safe. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I made that promise, and I never promise. You got that?"
"Yes sir." She said saluting. "You make me feel safe. You always have. Even when they made me feel like a whore, made me feel worthless, I knew you knew me better. I'm glad you're my friend." She told him and his heart was suddenly very full.
"That Jack, is about the nicest compliment I've ever heard. You are no whore, and anyone who says so had to deal with me. A tease, absolutely. Adeni, well, I'd not go that far…Now get under the covers and get back to sleep. I'm gonna turn in too. We've got no plans, so let's take advantage of the quiet."
"You might wanna be careful calling me Adeni. It means seductress." She said as he pulled up the blanket. "You might just find yourself in trouble then."
He walked out muttering, "I'm already in trouble Jack." Which only made her smile.
An hour later, she was shivering in the dark again, imaginary creatures trying to kill her. She rose, still clad in her nightgown, a cotton one clean and virginal, and padded towards Riddick's room.
"Riddick?" she whispered but all she heard was his steady breathing. "Shit." she said just as quietly. She remembered back to the days after T2 and how he would let her sleep near him, how it calmed her. She was much younger then, and now was very different.
Slipping next to him, she watched him sigh. She laid her head down and tried to focus on his breathing, which never failed to allow her to drift off to sleep. His scent hadn't changed and she found the combination, oddly stirring. But being so exhausted, she was asleep in a matter of moments.
In the darkness, he had heard her approach. You're playing with fire dickey boy, his beast growled. But he knew her well enough to understand how this all frightened her. Pretending to sleep, he heard her call his name. He half expected her to return to her own bed, but secretly hoped she wouldn't. When he felt the bed shift and her body settle in next to him he smiled, opening his eyes. Jack you are so beautiful, if I could only deserve you.
He touched her hair, feeling how soft it was and sighed. Smelling it, he thought of Jasmine. She began to mutter, agitating again and he pulled her close to him. His low breathing and presence immediately calmed her.
Both safe, and at peace, he fell back asleep vaguely aware he was completely naked underneath the sheet.