Riddick walked out of the med suite after he kissed his wife on her forehead and told her he loved her so much. He walked down the hall to the room the held Roper in and opened the door.
"Two things." He said sitting in the chair and looking exhausted. "Thank you for shooting that merc and helping me with Jack. If you want me to let you live you'll listen up."
Roper who had been alone since they're arrival sat on the bed with his hands in his lap. "Sure."
"Jack made me promise not to kill you. When I promise something, and I only do it to her, I keep my word." He said looking at him. "Why did you sign with Toombs?"
Riddick was curious. Janis had told him that this was the kid's first job. He wanted to know why. "I needed the money. No one lets you pilot when you got a record."
"What's your sheet for?" he asked sitting carefully back in the chair, his silver eyes gleaming.
"Theft, hacking, shit like that. No one will give you a job when you're a convict. Spent two years in a slam and never wanted to go back. Did my time and I wanted to make some money and live my fucken life, are you happy now?"
He laughed. "Janis likes you, and I'm inclined to believe her. You're just a kid."
"I'm not much younger than you Riddick." He said sarcastically.
"Shut it kid while I'm in a good mood. My wife is gonna pull through and you helped make that happen, so shut the fuck up when I'm talking."
He sat quietly remembering the man only a few hours before had been a homicidal rage. "Now, she's gonna need some help. And you're gonna do it and earn your keep."
"How, I can't do shit, all my stuff is on Toombs' ship?" He said looking at the floor.
"Mercs will fuck you over every time if it makes them money. Learn that while you're young. I believe in second chances kid and that's saying something. You help me, and I'll help you. Fuck me one time, and I'll slit your throat while you sleep. You understand?"
"Absolutely." He said shaking.
"Now, go get your gear, you'll go with Kalifa and be quick, I need you to help remote pilot Toombs and set the auto pilot. We're sending his ass back to Farad with a bow. Go, before I change my mind."
Anne brought Layne to see Riddick after he had slept some. Roper had returned with all his gear and settled into the room they gave him and was grateful to still have a pulse. No one trusted him and he didn't mind their standoffish behavior.
He was just happy to be alive.
When Riddick walked into the mess carrying Layne on his shoulder, Roper looked at him with wonder.
How could such a brutal man look so tender at the same time? He shrugged it off and sat at one of the tables waiting for him to give him his orders. Kalifa walked in with Jack's new laptop and put it in front of him.
"Jack set up her machine to hack inside and get to you via remote. Set the auto pilot and get him on course to Hellion Prime. Make it so it wakes him up when he's entering the atmosphere. Then I want you see Dr. Janis, she's got some things she needs done. Anyone asks you to do something you do it. That is the deal. Understand me?"
"Yes Captain." He told him and started tapping the keys.
"Done." He said an hour later. "Toombs should arrive in 6 weeks. What's gonna happen to him when he gets there?"
"We set him up. Don't worry about that now. Just see the Doc, take care of that knot on your head and get something to eat and rest." He said cooing Layne with his fingers. "Thank God that Jack lives and she made me promise, cause part of me really wants you dead. Remember that."
Roper closed the laptop and obeyed looking towards the med suite so damn relieved he couldn't breathe right.
Once inside the med lab, he went to Janis and hugged her weeping like a small child. He explained what he saw, how horrifying it was to watch, how he had been so wrong in coming andthat he could have died. But Janis, sighed and hugged him harder saying, "I told Jack you had a change of heart, and I knew when you decided to leave you would. That saved you, she heard you and knew that you weren't like the others. Now prove your worth. Riddick is a good man, he'll need you. Get something to eat, and rest."
He walked over to Jack, laying still and bruised. A large bandage covered her and he could still see the finger tip bruises on her throat. "If I have to devote my life to your family, I will because I owe you. Your last words were pleading for my life. I promise to make good on that."
He left without another word and went to his room. He showered, sat on his bed and fell asleep a deep sleep that was a long time coming.
Kalifa had learned to pilot in the weeks he spent training with Riddick and put them on course to Talos 4.. Riddick was never more happy than to be in the blackness of space.
He looked down from the bridge and thought, it's finally over, they would make the life they dreamed of and no one and nothing would get in their way.