Riddick had put the auto pilot on and let the others fend for themselves. He sat in the darkness, only moving to take a piss and grab a shirt. He watched her, and every once in a while Sasha would tell him things, things that he never knew about her.

Like the fact that she loved chocolate. Or the fact that she hated the color blue.

"That's cause it reminded her of the planet Sasha." He told her just wanting to hear the voice he'd come to love.

"You need to eat. When she wakes up she doesn't need to see you laying next to her dropping from exhaustion." She chided.

"I'll be fine Jack." He gruffed absentmindedly. Sasha made no mention of the slip and knew that his breaking point was coming.

He dozed soon after that, laying his face against her good side listening to her breathe in and out, hearing the strong heart beat that kept him sane.

Many times in the near twenty hours she lay on the table Anne, Salim and Kalifa would come by to check on them, admiring his loyalty and praying that Allah would grant him his wish to see her awake again.

"Riddick?" a small voice croaked and he snapped into wakefulness.

He rubbed his face wondering if he'd been hearing things. Then he heard it again. "Jack?" he said his voice breaking.

"Hey." She said trying to muster a smile for him. Her face was pale, the bruises against her cheek a deep purple blue, and the finger prints along her neck and shoulders a deep blue black. Her eyes were dilated and watery but seeing them open was the best thing he had ever seen.

"Hey princess, you've been down a long time." He said his face wet with relief.

"Your face sprung a leak." She croaked, her throat dry and scratchy.

"Imagine that." He replied smiling so widely he imagined he looked like an ass.

"You need to shave." She informed him touching his cheek.

"Yeah, that and a massage would help." He smirked. "I was so worried you'd never wake up."

"Sh. I wouldn't leave you. You didn't leave me. You came back and saved me, remember?" she said softly. "How bad is it?"

"Not anything we can't handle. Lost a lot of blood, broke a few ribs, but otherwise, you'll be fine. We're free Jack."

"Finally?" she asked looking into the silver pools that she loved so much.

"Finally." He told her. "You're gonna be fine."

"Sure I am, just as soon as you tell me how long I'm gonna be stuck on this hard ass table." She smirked wincing at the cut on her mouth.

He put on his goggles and said, "Doc, how long is this pain in the ass gonna be stuck here?"

He watched the bright blue light descend over her and waited for the results. He removed his goggles again and smiled.

"Twenty four hours ago Jack you were bleeding to death. Give us a break, you've had us worried sick." Sasha demanded.

"I can have Riddick and Anne move you in a few more hours. We just had to make sure you both were stable. You got pounded pretty hard." She told Jack who gave Riddick a look that made him smile.

"No." she told him looking at him with that face of pure disbelief.

"Yeah Jack." He said knowing she understood completely what Sasha meant.

"No way." She told him. "That's impossible. There's no way I can be…"

"It fits, Jack. The tiredness, the crabbiness, you both were very active, and your monthly was no where to be seen. You do know how babies are made don't you?"

"I shouldn't have given her AI Riddick, now she's mocking me. Of course I knew you piece of junk." Then her face lost what color it had when she looked at Riddick's face, unreadable. "I'm sorry."

Suddenly he felt ashamed. He didn't want to upset her. "For what Jack?"

"For…" she tried to say but looked away. "Fucking up." Getting pregnant...

His voice got tender, purred in her ear as he wiped a tear off her face. "You didn't fuck up anything Jack. Not that fucking didn't have anything to do what what's going on now, cause it did." He chuckled and she laughed and winced in pain. "Oh shit, I'm sorry kid. Didn't mean to get you hurting again."

"So you're not sorry?" she asked shy all of a sudden.

"Hell no. Remember, what I told you when I was on my back? I meant every word." He told her kissing her forehead. "I love you. I'm gonna love this baby too." He patted her abdomen and smiled.

Riddick and Kalifa moved Jack to the bedroom they share the next day. She slept fitfully and Sasha and Anne, who had continued her studies until her marriage into the Mohammed family, decided that she'd be better off in some place more comfortable.

"I can walk you know. I'm not gonna break." She quipped as Riddick carried her followed by Kalifa who carried the portable IV pole.

"Bitch all you like princess, cause its you're turn to be stuck in bed now." he remarked smiling and blowing her off.

"You just wait. I'll get you for that. That's probably why I'm gonna be stuck here an extra week in the first place." She snapped while Kalifa just shook his head.

"You sound like two old married people. How depressing for you." he said sarcastically.

They both looked at him and laughed. "Shut up Kalifa or I'll tell Anne about the pictures."

"She already knows thank you and you will not black mail me further or I shall tell your jabbar wadd (most powerful lover) about the spin the bottle game."

Riddick's eyebrow went up and he began to laugh. "Spin the bottle Jack? That's gotta be as good as Truth or dare?"

Then all three of them were laughing.

Salim kept his distance until Jack's health had improved to where she was able to be escorted to the mess and placed on the couch. He was old school and didn't feel comfortable seeing her in her bed chambers.

Riddick slept with her every night and kept her calm when the nightmares would come. But never touched her no matter how much he wanted to. She would flinch and scream making it worse and it broke his heart but he bit his lip and endured it.

"My child. It is good to see you. I was always confident that you would return to us." He told her taking her hand and placing it on his cheek.

"Salim I missed you. What you did for me was beyond words." She told him knowing he gave up so much for her.

"You are what is important now, and the child within you. I always imagined my children staying close to me, but as I lost one, I gained one so my life is good, regardless." He told her as Riddick came to sit by her.

She cried at that and they sat down together and ate, sitting next to one another as a family would.