Kalifa stood biting his hand. He knew grief, unrestrained torturous grief that was so profound that it felt like someone was ripping his guts out and kicking him in the head. He stood just out of view and listened to the strongest man he had ever met weep like a child.

His respect for Riddick was so fathomless after that, that no one could dare come near him try to harm him or Jack and live. He would do anything for this man, he would be loyal to this man unto death.

He saw Anne in the hallway, and stopped her before she got any farther, and in quiet Arabic he told her what had transpired.

"He has found his origins, he knows of the pain his mother went through and Jack is with him. He is undone and grieves most painfully." He told her taking her hands.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She knew much about Riddick from the private conversations she had over the years with Jack, how he had no one to hold on to and that he was utterly alone. To find him so affected by the revelation that his mother did not abandon him, that her sacrifice was so noble tore at her heart just as they walked towards the mess.

"Oh my love. There is no pain worse." She said sitting down and succumbing to tears.

But Kalifa could think of only one. The face Riddick showed him and his father when he thought he lost Jack.

"He will be all right. He has Jack. Jack is his Jabbar Wadd. (true love) She will comfort him." He said holding her hand.

Riddick cleared his throat and spoke, the first rational words in nearly an hour. "Lights, forty percent."

"Riddick, are you feeling better?" Sasha asked Jack still cradling his smooth head in her lap. She had move to sit on the table and he laid his cheek against her thighs and let her pet him silently.

Her touch, soft and delicate, soothed the raging flood of emotion within him and the pounding searing pain in his head eased when her fingers massaged his temples.

"Yeah." Was all he said. His face was swollen from tears he had repressed his entire life and he was weary. Tired and worn out, he took Jack's hand and led her out into the hallway. "I love you." he said kissing her palm. "Thanks for being there for me."

"Hey, this is me you're talking to, we've been attacked by monsters, chased all over the universe, stabbed, poisoned and nearly killed. Don't worry about it big guy, I'd do that for you any day of the week." She told him wiping his tear stained cheek. "Come on, let's get something to drink."

"OK." He said feeling kind of numb.

When they reached the mess, Anne and Kalifa were sitting talking low in Arabic. He didn't know what they were saying but he had no doubt they heard his torturous cries from anywhere they happened to be on the ship. He wasn't exactly quiet when his breakdown occurred and frankly didn't care.

It had been a long time coming. He was spent, hurting all over and wanted nothing more than Jack curled up in his lap telling him he wasn't alone just by her mere presence. Later he would get that, he would soak up the reassurance she provided and he would feel the love he'd been denied.

"Are you hungry Riddick? I could fix you something." She offered trying to be helpful. Her eyes betrayed her knowledge of what had transpired, the shiny unshed tears still waiting to fall.

"No, not just now. But thanks. What time is it?" he asked and she answered, late afternoon. "Let's get supplies and get off this planet. Toombs and Dr. Janis should be here in a few days. I want to be long gone before then." And safe in space.

"Sure, Riddick. I'll get my father. We can be ready in a few minutes." Kalifa said leaving.

"Anne, thanks for not saying anything." Jack told her when Riddick went to their rooms and to check on something outside the mess.

"His cries broke my heart to pieces. He was in pain, like a animal caught in a snare. You must love him very much." She said hugging her.

The baby kicked forcefully and Anne and Jack laughed. "It's a strong one."

"And a son. Sasha confirmed it." Jack told her smiling. "I think he wanted a boy."

"Don't care what comes out of that belly princess but yes, a boy was the plan." Riddick said looking like he showered. He wore a clean black wife beater, black mechanics pants, and boots, he held his black leather long coat and wore his goggles and handed her coat to her putting on her. He smile a small smile and kissed her cheek and laughed when she scoffed at him.

Jack looked at him, smiled and her eyes wandered. Damn he's fine! Riddick caught her and smiled.

"What supplies are we needing now, this place has everything?" Anne asked as Salim and Kalifa came into the mess. They were dressed for travel.

"Fresh food." Riddick said escorting her down the hall, "clothes for this one. A few essentials and a bassinet. Baby is coming in about a month and a half according to Sasha." Anne's perplexed look made him laugh. "Jack'll tell you later."

"You still have that chip for your sister Kalifa?" Jack asked walking close to Riddick, exactly where he wanted her.

"Yes." He answered walking in front of Anne, habits seemed to die hard even in this company.

"Let Anne use it to buy some "appropriate" clothes." Jack said and she gave a wink to Riddick, who just what she meant. "We need to all stop looking like pilgrims. But," she said looking at Salim, "some may find it more difficult."

Four hours later the local butcher having taking a rather large order, grinning at the sight of the cash they presented, prepared to have fresh meats delivered to the Flying Dutchman.

Then the men lingered while at the same market the girls went into a shop and came out with a parcel large enough that Riddick had to carry it. He was glad the deliveries had been made.

He had Fat Tony get him in touch with the same people that refit the med suite and paid extra to get them an incubator for the baby, then bribed them to keep it quiet. Both him and Kalifa also did some covert shopping that made the men bond to an even greater extent and Salim just smiled.

Riddick's transformation and reintegration into the human race was progressing faster than the Imam had foreseen.

Riddick had spent the last hour lingering around with Kalifa while Salim watched the girls from a distance. He smiled seeing them so unguarded and knew that they trusted him with their lives, a task he had no problem with fulfilling.

"We're done. Jack is exhausted." Anne announced. She was too. It felt odd to her that she was unveiled, unbound and open for all to see when she'd spent most of her life under the veil. Freedom was frightening but she enjoyed it.

"We ready?" Riddick asked looking at Jack who was almost asleep as she walked.

He took her hand and watched her eyes droop and smiled. They had taken a light supper in a café by the river, the same street that a few months before almost killed them.

His eyes were always on the watch and he wanted nothing more than to get the hell of this planet. They had plenty of food in the freezer, fresh vegetables and grains, fully stocked on food for the food generator after the fresh had run out and Salim, while Riddick and Kalifa waited outside two shops had ordered special wood he would make her bassinet out of. Riddick gave him a non committal nod but inside he was pleased as hell.

He remembered Kalifa had spotted a store that sold jewelry and expressed a desire to buy something for Anne, and he had an idea himself. He smiled at the gift in his coat. Hopefully she would like it, remembering that Ziza had taken his birthday gift and died wearing it.

"Come on princess, time for bed. How's my son? Giving you a hard time already?" Riddick purred in her ear. Once they hit the blackness of space and put foot to ass to get them free of the Valysian system and onto the Meterora system and towards Talos Prime, she'd sleep, and he'd rest.

The day's revelations had worn him out. He felt hurt, and needed some alone time to process everything Sasha had told him. He wanted to try out that shower again and slip into the bed, those cool sheets that he knew would be softer than a baby and pull her into his arms.

"No, he's been quiet. But the moment I stop moving he'll start sparring with my kidneys." She quipped as he laughed a loud deep chuckle. "You all right?"

"I am now. Been talking to Kalifa. I like him. Didn't think I would but I do." He said looking in front of them towards the tall Arab man walking next to a snow white blonde.

"He kinda grows on ya." She said smiling. "Like fungus."

"Yeah." He said kissing her hand. "Let's get off this rock. You got everything you need?"

"Yeah. I wanna sleep for a few hours then I'll unpack everything."

"Sounds good." He told her looking at the ship. "Damn fine ship."

"I want to contact Janis if I could…" she told him as they walked to the bridge.

"Wait until she contacts you. I don't trust anyone besides us. It might be a trap. Granted," He said strapping her in carefully. "she was right about the landing gear."

"OK, I trust you."

"I knew that." He said kissing her forehead.

Riddick looked at Jack, and by the time they had hit the shipping lanes, set a course, and did the two star jumps to get them on track to Talos Prime, she was fast asleep. Salim smiled and bid his good night, checking on the deliveries in the hold and asked if Kalifa could help him put them in the freezer and the pantry.

"Hey, Anne, help me out?" he asked lifting Jack into his arms.

He walked with Jack to their quarters and Anne turned down the bed. "Good night Riddick. Take care of her."

He actually smirked at her, something he never had done before then closed the door behind him. For Anne, that was progress.

He removed her boots, then her pants, the cargo pants she'd worn that were loose, now fit on the underside of her stomach. He definitely could say she was low and in the front. He removed her socks, looking how her feet seemed to try and find the warmth of the bed by trying to hide under the blankets and smiled.

While he watched her sleep, he thought about the holograph, what his mother had said, validating his dreams that she did not abandon him, that she loved him and his mind wandered.

How different would his life be had she lived? Would he still have Jack?

He pulled a nightgown from the boxes they had yet to unpack and helped her out of the shirt he wore the night he challenged Faisal, she wore it now to hide the baby when they were out.

So beautiful. he thought putting it on her. She was exhausted. He'd go and see how Kalifa and Anne were settled and Salim then he'd shower, slip into bed and dream, hopefully good ones.

When he returned an hour later, Jack wasn't in the bed. The room, empty and cold, made him worry. He took off his goggles and looked for her. She was in the bathroom, huddled between the toilet and the tub clutching his shiv, bone handle extended and swiping an arc in the air.

God damn nightmares. Fuck. At least she didn't hurt herself. Not now with the baby getting bigger…

"Jack." He said cautiously. He knew better than top blindly approach her when she was like this. Her eyes were open but she was definitely still asleep. "Jack." He said louder. Her eyes blinked a few times and she looked lost.

"Baby come here. I got ya." He told her as he kneeled before her. She sat up slowly and slid into his embrace much like she did when she was younger. "Sh. It's just another dream. You're safe with me. Sh."

"I dreamed they ate you." she said in a small quiet voice shaking.

"Was I tasty?" he crooned in her ear as he picked her up and walked her to the platform.

"Dunno, can I try?" she quipped in his ear, nipping it. "Very tasty."

"You need your rest." He warned, growling at the sensation. But I could have a little taste couldn't I his beast growled.

She's exhausted DOWN BOY.

"You need your rest." She copied. "You need me to rest."

"Hmm." He said as her hands touched his face and neck. "I do. Give me a minute."

He slipped out of his clothes and under the covers feeling the firmness of the mattress and falling into the sheets like he hadn't slept in days. "Damn, this is the best fucking bed I have ever laid on."

She crawled up against him and smiled. "I know, let's just sleep, your son has kicked me since you left, can't get much sleep when that happens." She told him leaning her belly against his side. The baby kicked hard and he felt it from his side as she sucked in a lung full of air.

"Damn Jack." He said lifting his head.

They looked at one another, and smiled. "Furyan" they said at the same time and laughed. He leaned down and laid his cheek against her talking low to his baby.

"Hey kid, give mom a break. And, thanks for helping her get well. I love her too and just thought you should know that. Now quit your kicking and go to sleep."

He sounded a little too gruff and loud but Jack smiled anyway. "Way to go to be subtle, big guy."

"Go to sleep, there you." he quipped pulling her to him. She squirmed against his pelvis smiling like a Cheshire cat. "Jack." He warned. "Sleep now."

"As you wish, my love." She told him and patted his hand, firmly on her belly rubbing the baby back to sleep.

The two, exhausted by the entire twenty four hours, from moving one ship to another, to finding out about the baby, then his mother, slept the dreamless sleep of the weary.