Immunity - Chapter 2
Warning: Don'town a thing.
Riddick stalked to infirmary. 'What the hell does Daus want now?' He hadn't had a good morning. Or afternoon. Or evening. It was just an all around shitty day. Jack had spent the better part of the morning bitching. He hated women bitching. Or crying. Jack had done that, too. She tried to get out of going to class, but he wasn't having none of that shit. If there was one thing he was going to do right by Jack, was that she was going to get an education. He wasn't happy being on this heap of metal, but at this moment, he didn't have another option. Embassador Gaius and Doctor Steven Daus had offered him temporary immunity on this station. Provided that he behave and did right by Jack. But he didn't want to stay here ten years.
Later that morning, at the docks, a critical shipment didn't come in. The foreman had got in it his skull that he, Riddick, was responsible. Called it 'theft.' Theft hell, where was he going to put it? In his pants? Well, a quick search of his quarters proved that. The missing shipment was just getting in when Daus made his call. Though he didn't say, he was glad for the reprieve. He just wondered what the doc wanted.
As the door slid open, Riddick went past barely giving the secretary, Minnie, acknowledgment. Minnie was scared shitless of Riddick, and he meant to keep it that way. She had made it known that she didn't approve of an escaped convict among free men and women.
He opened the door to Dr. Daus' office slowly, without noise. It wasn't a conscious effort. Just habit. Seeing that the doc wasn't there, he took a seat. Sitting there, he noticed a faint smell of cocoa butter. It triggered a long buried memory. He tried, but he couldn't place that scent.
Steven entered his office from another door, which Riddick knew to be his lab. The other man gave him a curt nod and sat in another chair, not speaking.
"Okay." Riddick spoke first. "What's this about and why are you giving me that look?"
Steven placed a folder on his desk and continued to stare at Riddick. "You just couldn't keep your hands off her, could you?" He gave his friend a hard glare.
Riddick tried his best innocent face, but knew he failed miserably. "Excuse me? What are you talking about?" He honestly didn't know what was going on. He had done so many things in the past. He didn't like how the doc was looking at him. Musta been bad, whatever it was.
Steven was still giving Riddick a death glare. He could actually see the big man start to get nervous. "Think real hard, man. Think prison. Tangiers."
Now THAT made him think harder. Not a place he wanted to revisit, even in his dreams, nightmares, whatever. The smell of cocoa butter was getting stronger. 'Oh, shit.' He remembered that scent. A very nice scent at that. "Oh. That." Riddick actually started to look sheepish. "How did you find out?"
Steven opened the folder and pointed to two separate DNA strands. "Notice anything about them?" He knew the big man wouldn't, he just wanted him to sweat it out a little more.
Riddick came in closer to look. Confusion written clearly on his face. "No. What am I supposed to be seeing?" He wasn't a doctor. He didn't even pretend to know what he was looking at. "DNA?"
Steven gave a frustrated sigh. 'Keep it simple, stupid.' "The strand on the left is yours. The strand next to that is Ailis'. There are similarities that shouldn't be there. She has your DNA still in her body." He sat back to judge Riddick's reaction. It was priceless.
He went pale. And Steven could almost see a sheen of sweat on that bald head. "Look, doc, it was two years ago. I swear I haven't seen her since." A thought suddenly entered his brain. He looked up. "She's here isn't she?" Steven nodded. "Is she in trouble?" Then, as an after thought, "Because of me?"
Steven's look softened towards his friend. It had taken a long time for the two to become friends and he wanted to keep it that way. Riddick trusted only a handful of people in this great wide universe and he was one of them. And the petite little Embassador was another. In fact, he trusted Ailis more that he trusted Steven. And it was okay with him that he did, as she just may be his salvation.
"Yes, Riddick, she is here. And I don't know if she's in trouble. You know she wouldn't say, even if she was. But, she is here by herself. I wanted to let you know before you stumbled into her." His voice dropped a bit more. "And I wanted to see if there were still feelings."
Richard Riddick was at a loss for words. She did that to him. All he could do was nod. Shit, shit, shit. He had never expected to see her again. That's why he had slept with her. To feel her one last time. He could still remember the feel of her, the scent of her. He slumped in his chair. Which was almost comical as he was 6'2" and 90 kilos of solid muscle. He prayed to what ever God there was, that she wasn't running from something he had done. He wouldn't be able to take that. He looked back at Steven waiting for him to say more.
And he did. "She thinks you're dead." Oh. "I'm supposed to meet her tomorrow with information on someone she's looking for. Someone you know. Imam." He regarded Riddick for a few more moments before continuing. "Maybe you could share your information with her."
