Chapter 8: Jack
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Jack laid awake in her bed, and looked up at the ceiling. Her mind was filled with the new information that she had learned over the past few days. That woman she saw at the space port was Minx. The guy she was involved with was that infamous criminal Deo, and he was kinda cute.
Truthfully Jack was curious to see her. It had been almost two years since she had been around anyone else, except Riddick and Imam. This was different, Minx was a girl, and maybe a cool one at that. Jack didn't know what to expect. Last night she caught Riddick looking her up on the net. That annoyed her, it wasn't text he was looking at but at a picture. Once she caught a glimpse, he clicked off of it and onto some text. It was just a normal picture, showing her in jeans and a tee shirt, so Jack tried not to read anything into it.
She knew that she should get some sleep but she couldn't and felt wired. Taking out a book she purchased on the way over to the ship, she began to read. Thoughts of massive ship chaises throughout galaxies, tough women, and mysterious secrets flooded her brain. She her eyes grew heavy, as she felt sleep take her.
Seemingly moments later she opened her eyes and realized it was morning, as the smell of toast, eggs, and bacon floated through the air, and made her reluctantly sit up in bed. She groaned when she remembered, today she had to start reading those history books Imam sent over on his people, and their customs.
She was going to stay with him in a religious community. It was like an old stucco building that from the pictures looked enormous. It was brown, with lots of windows, and trees all around it. He said that they didn't believe in that many modern conveniences. They had however electricity, and running water. Like he said the essentials. She would be going to school at an abbey across the campus of churches. She was dreading being sent away to live like a caged animal but Riddick insisted and explained it was for her own good.
She knew he was right but she didn't want him to leave her. She trudged across the room, still in a hypnotic sleepy state, not noticing the metal corner of the bed. A moment later her bare knee collided with it, she yelped out, as pain shot straight up her leg. She growled in frustration, as she hopped up and down on one foot, holding her knee in her hands, cursing and swearing. Suddenly she lost her balance and fell. Grasping the chair in front of her desk to try and stop her fall. But it tipped with her and she fell dramatically to the floor. Landing on her ass with a hard thud. "Awe, damn! Give me a break!" She yelled harshly, her breath uneven. Suddenly her door slid open, as Riddick filled the door way.
He must have just been working out. His feet were bare, and he was dressed in a pair of sweat pants that were really low on his hips. While he was shirtless. She looked up at him, speechless. Her cheeks burning. She swallowed. "You okay Kid?" He asked in a concerned voice, but a classic smirk was still evident on his face. Yet she couldn't find her voice to speak. His eyes were goggled, the soft light of her room made his bare chest seem to shine, along with this closely shaven head. She swallowed. "Kid?" He asked again, "You okay?" Jack nodded. "Yeah Ijust" She paused to pick herself up, "ran into the bed." She replied blankly.
Stepping backwards she almost stumbled into the chair. But he reached out and caught her arm stopping her second nasty spill from occurring. She looked down and notice she was bleeding. "Around, not through, Jack." He said casually. Then steered her by her shoulders to her bathroom. "Come on, lets get ya cleaned up." He said stopping to place the chair right side up again. "Thanks." She muttered, down casting her eyes.
He sat her on the toilet seat and turned on the faucet, mixing the hot with some cold, to get it warm, but not scalding, or freezing. She yawned, her eyes half closed, half open. Riddick opened the medicine cabinet over the sink, as she stifled yet another yawn. He looked at her, "What time did you get to bed last night anyway?" He asked conversationally. She thought for a moment. "Five turrrtee." She said yawning in the middle of the sentence. Riddick chuckled. " Five turrree?" He repeated jokingly. Jack gave him a glared look as if to say 'shut it.' He smiled at her, still chuckling, he knelt down in front of her.
He cleared away the dried blood with a damp hand towel, cleaned it with disinfectant, and applied a band aid. "Good as new." He muttered, standing up. "Want breakfast?" He called over his shoulder, while walking towards the door. "Uh huh." She agreed, pulling the covers of her bed straight, then sliding the door shut. She went to her closet, and pulled on her usual black cargo pants and black tee shirt, with her old boots. She didn't bother looking in the mirror, not wanting to cringe at the sight of her ghastly clothes.
She walked into the kitchen, and found much to her distress, that he'd put on a tee shirt. She sighed and sat down at the table next to him. They ate in silence until it was broken by the gentle whirring and clicking of the Comm phone that floated just above the marble island in the middle of the kitchen. Riddick stood and pushed the talk button, a few milliseconds later Hocks's face filled the screen.
"Man." He cringed animatedly. "You don't look so good in the morning Riddick." He growled playfully. Riddick smirked, "Look who's talking." He rumbled. Jack smiled slightly, standing, and walked up next to him. Hocks noticed her immediately. "Hey Jack, doing good I hope?" He said cheerfully, the usual twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Jack smirked back, "I'm alive aren't I?" She asked sarcastically, beaming with a smile immediately after. Hocks chuckled and then looked to Riddick. "What are you feedin' that kid nails and knives?" He asked incredulously. Riddick shook his head. "Nah she's always like this. A real joy, believe me." He said mockingly. Jack smacked him hard across the arm. Hocks chuckled again. "Okay you two enough foolin around." He chided, "Down to business. Minx is coming out of the medical ward today, so she'll be coming around some time this afternoon." He said casually. Jack's brow furrowed.
"Medical ward? Something wrong with her." She asked, slight trace of panic in her voice. Hocks smiled. "Well she's never okay mentally." He paused to chuckle. "But after being chased down by a bunch of crazed mercs." He said sobering considerably, "Falling out of three story burning buildings, getting knocked out twice, and finally getting injected with a two day sleeping agent by meI guess she's doing pretty well for herself." He replied. "Wow! Three story buildings?" She asked her eyes wide. Hocks nodded. "Yeah it was on the news a couple of days agoday before last, if my memory serves me." He said thoughtfully. Riddick nodded. "Yeah we saw it. Almost leveled that place." He said casually. "Yeah," Hocks replied shaking his head with a smile. "It was done with this military explosive in the warehouse's stockroom." Hocks said. "I should know she ordered it from me. But we don't talk about that." He said slowly. Riddick smirked. "Of course not." He said sarcastically.
Hocks looked to the left of the screen. "Have to go. Got some stuff to take care of. See you two later, I'll be bringing her round with me." He said quickly. "Stay outta trouble man." Riddick rumbled. Hocks smirked, "Yeah that'll be the day." He said. "See ya Hocks." Jack chimed in, suddenly in a lighter mood. "Bye." He replied, while moving to stand up. With that the screen went blank.
Jack dumped her dishes in the food processor, and it cleaned them. Riddick followed suit. They walked into the livingroom. He turned on the TV and sat on the couch. While she plopped down in an over sized leather chair, with her legs hanging over the side of the arm. She opened her history book. It was cool, comfortable and quiet in the little apartment of theirs. Yep, she could defiantly get used to this.
